Crystalia
by Hailbreeze
Summary: Take heed when given a choice. A simple task, a small gesture can cause everything to crumple to dust. When given such a choice, what would Alfred and Arthur do? What would their companions sacrifice to make sure that the two princes succeed in their task and return safe to their nations? FantasyAU
1. Intro & Prologue

A/N: Urm... the one that's writing this is a friend of mine who refuses to publish it so it's here. If she ever creates an account, i'll be linking you guys there.

Warning: might have OOC-ness just cause both of us aren't that familiar with Hetalia. It was first written with OCs which then became a gnsk fic (to those who might find this familiar) but we found that the amount of characs in this fics was too much and that's when we found the Heta characs fits in pretty well and thus this happened.  
Another thing, this is slightly based on cardverse. The characters and their relationship might be diff from the usual and the cardverse setting. Just let us know what you think.

Rated M for violence, blood and language.

Pairings: UsUk, GerIta, AusHun(Er... i hope you don't come back here to confirm this), RusPru(In the process of begging), SuFin, ChuNi

* * *

Since the dawn of eternity, the Astral Crystals, bestowed by the Goddess Spera, guided Mankind with knowledge and wisdom. Mankind flocked to their holy light, and from them four nations were brought forth, each with their own society.

Sanctus, the fiery nation unparalleled in knowledge in the arts of magic and technology. Urbis, the military nation with steely arms to protect the land. Nullus, the oceanic nation blessed by the sea with life abundant. And Oblitus, the mountainous nation, like that of a rigid shield and well-guarded blade.

And when the path forgotten is treaded on again, death and ruin shall be willed upon the land as the Astral Crystals wane into darkness. And their world known as, Tellurem, will stop in its spiral, and cease to exist.

* * *

Prologue

The full moon was painted red as towering flames engulfed the village.

A small child no more than four, stood in the middle of the chaos watching as everything around him burned down into ashes. His eyes flickered from blue to red with each movement as they darted back and forth at the sights around him.

A slight movement drew his attention, as a man wearing a crimson coloured soldier's uniform crawled out of burning wreckage, and stumbled across the barren ground. Cold inquisitive eyes focused on the man as he tried with shaking hands to raise his rifle at the child. Unmoved, the child tilted his head, and blinked.

Wisps of blue flames started sprouting out from the ground around the man, enveloping him within seconds. There was no hint of fear or sympathy in those impassive red eyes as the child looked on while the deafening screams of the burning man faded away with the sound of the raging flames.

Beside him, a tall curved figure almost humanoid in shape merged out from the shadows of the flames, as if coming into existence from thin air. Reaching out with its long and sharp bony fingers, it offered the child its hand, beckoning him closer.


	2. Chapter 01

A/N: Urm... the one that's writing this is a friend of mine who refuses to publish it so it's here. If she ever creates an account, i'll be linking you guys there.

Warning: might have OOC-ness just cause both of us aren't that familiar with Hetalia. It was first written with OCs which then became a gnsk fic (to those who might find this familiar) but we found that the amount of characs in this fics was too much and that's when we found the Heta characs fits in pretty well and thus this happened.

Pairings: USUK, GerIta, AusHun(Er... i hope you don't come back just to confirm this), RusPru(In the process of begging), SuFin, ChuuNiChuu

Disclaimer: Don't own Hetalia.

* * *

Chapter 01

Alfred woke up with a jolt. He was cold and shivering, drenched to the bone yet his body was smoking and his clothes were burnt to bits. His usually messy blonde hair was stuck flat onto his head from the water, as his silvery blue eyes hidden slightly by his long fringe blinked, slowly focusing on the mess that he had made.

The once grand canopy bed was nothing but a mixture of burnt cloth and wood, and there were cuts of various depth and length all over the beautifully textured red and blue walls of the room, including the bed itself. Pinching his nose to the smell of burnt bed, Alfred, with a clear look of irritation on his face glared at the man standing next to him holding a bucket which he guessed had been filled with ice cold water just seconds ago. The one thing he hated the most was to be forced up early in the morning, especially when it is not by the usual means.

"Nightmare again? This is the third time you've set yourself on fire this month boy. Good thing I was keeping a close eye on you." The man said in a creepily sweet voice with a look of amusement on his childish-like face, as a group of servants stood outside the room by the doorway, waiting to tidy up the room.

"Still you didn't have to drench me in cold water, just a call or tap on my shoulder and I would have woken up." Alfred retorted as he tried to lean back down and immediately regretted it as the burnt cut up wood gave way from his slight shift in weight, causing him to fall through the hole onto the wet scorched marble floor with an unintentional yelp escaping from his lips. What a way to start a brand new day.

With a laugh, Ivan Braginski, bodyguard and combat teacher to Alfred since Alfred was a child, bent down and offered him his hand, which was covered with feather-like tattoos of shades of black and red that seemed to flow all the way down from his shoulders towards the palm of his hands. Ignoring it, Alfred, still embarrassed by his little fall, turned away from him and asked as calmly as he could for the giggling servants to come back later.

Sighing, Ivan stood back up, his long tan scarf swaying slightly from the movement. He straightened his blood-red shirt underneath his long unbuttoned light tan coat, and threw a towel that he had slung over his shoulder, onto the face of his charge, urging him to get up. Said charge just summoned a card out of thin air with a flick of his wrist, threw it down onto the towel and summoned another card, flicking it away from him towards the wall.

Just as the thrown card was about to be impaled onto the wall, it glowed slightly for a split second. The card on top of the towel glowed in resonance and dissipated into thin air, while the towel that was on Alfred's face just a second ago disappeared and reappeared on the card in the wall, swaying back and forth from the motion.

"Did you really have to use magic to get rid of one measly towel that I took the effort to bring along?" Ivan asked with a shake of his head. Looking at Alfred who was just lying motionless on the floor with his eyes closed for a few minutes, Ivan finally closed his deep violet eyes in surrender and sighed again.

Rubbing his chin, Ivan leaned his large muscular build back a little and wondered out loud, "Didn't I tell you not to use that warping magic of yours on objects without my approval as well? It's still too volatile for you to handle properly. Look at yourself, you're already pretty worn out."

Stifling a yawn as Ivan squatted down once again and forcefully pulled him up onto a seating position, Alfred rubbed the sleep off his eyes before putting on his glasses which Ivan tossed to him, as what was left of his burnt and tattered clothes fell down onto the floor, revealing his slim athletic build and dog tag along with a small swirling blue crystal pendant on the same chain hanging loosely around his neck. However the thing that would catch a person's attention was the strange corruption on his left hand. Unlike any normal bare skinned hand that anybody would have, Alfred's left hand was jet-black, and it was sharp and scaly, like that of a talon of a bird.

Swiftly picking up the towel hanging on the card, Ivan, with a smile that said otherwise, threw it towards Alfred who caught it this time and with a soft half-serious voice he said, "Cover up your hand before another sees it prince charmless. You do not wish to have anyone seeing that, da?"

"Yeah yeah, call me that from now on." Alfred muttered as he wrapped his left hand in the towel before finally proceeding to get up from the floor, stretching his body as he stood, and strolled to the cut up antique gold edged dresser carved with intricate designs of creatures of various species beside his collapsed bed. Picking up his usual wear of a plain light grey dress shirt with a loose crimson tie and black vest coupled with a crimson hemmed black long coat, black jeans and a single glove to cover his left hand, Alfred was about to head into the bathroom in his room to clean up and get changed, when Ivan stopped him.

"Before you go anywhere, I have to ask. The fire was from the nightmare wasn't it? Are you all right? I'm starting to feel bad for the servants who have to clean up after the mess you make every single time." Ivan asked mockingly but Alfred could hear the worry hidden in his tone.

"I'm fine!" Alfred gave him a thumbs up, "I'm a hero after all!"

"But still I find you on fire every time it occurs." Ivan called out as Alfred closed the door behind him, ignoring his friend.

Looking at himself in the mirror, Alfred noted how his straight but unruly hair was getting too long for his liking. The sides are covering almost half of his ear now, and the back was starting to touch his collar. A few more weeks and he ought to get it cut. With a sigh, Alfred tried again to unsuccessfully tame his wild hair especially that cowlick at the front before looking down at his clawed scaly jet-black hand.

He couldn't even remember how it used to look like anymore, probably just like his opposite arm. But who knows. Closing his sharp jagged talon-like fingers and observing them, Alfred traced the corruption with his fingers down to where it stopped; pass his wrist about quarter way to his elbow, where the rough black scales came in contact with his smooth light skin. He didn't even know what it was exactly, but for some reason, he just knew that sooner or later, when it spreads far too much, it would cause some serious irreversible damage to himself, or even kill him.

There had to be some way to get rid of this strange corruption, but it was a helpless case. There was no known cure, and to add on, only little records was found. Once, the man who examined him let his mouth slip, saying that it was similar to the hide of a kind of monstrous creature. What monstrous creature, he didn't know. His Father had refused to let anyone who knew about it tell him, and none did even after his constant pestering.

Pulling on his leather glove, Alfred took a moment to look at the pendant around his neck, before putting it under his shirt. Still messing with his hair, Alfred turned to the door, and just as he was opening it, Ivan's hand came down at where the door had been just a second ago directly at his face.

Dodging the blow, Alfred drew a card and twisted his body up, using the momentum to slice the card towards Ivan's head. But expecting the counterattack, Ivan leaned his head back, dodging the card by mere centimetres and was about to break out into a smile when the runes decorating the card started to glow. Jumping back, the card exploded into flames just as his feet touched the ground, and Ivan immediately shifted to his right, just as another card came flying out of Alfred's hand, missing him again.

"Not bad, but you got to do better than that to hit me boy." Ivan grinned.

"Says the person who launched a surprise attack at someone just out of the bathroom." Replied Alfred, dissipating the dagger that was on his hand with a flick of his wrist, his previous bad mood now a distant memory.

"Looks like his highness has finally decided to wake up. The both of you can settle this later. Right now there's a little problem that requires your attention Al." A cool and collected voice spoke out from the doorway.

Standing beside the beautifully carved wooden door with his hands together, Wang Yao, advisor and childhood friend of Alfred since an early age stood with his arms crossed. Topping the nation in the gifted, he was appointed to Alfred as his consultant to guide the prince from making mistakes, though many times he had been swept up along with Alfred's stunts instead.

"What do you mean the both of us? You'll be joining us in sparing later, you need the exercise. But first, what's this little problem?" Ivan chipped as he went over to an annoyed Yao.

Pushing Ivan away with his white gloved hands rather panicky, Yao pushed himself off the wall as he patted the ash off his outfit, consisting of a maroon dress shirt coupled with a formal jacket, while sweeping back his dark brown ponytail that had formally been on his left shoulder.

"The usual, Antonio got sent to prison again."

"Some time inside prison would be good for him. Maybe that could get some sense into that thick skull of his."

"If 'some time' would help, he should have already learnt aru. This is his fifth time getting caught by the authorities."

"Just let me get my boots on and we'll go get him out before he starts to think that we've forgotten about him again." Alfred interrupted before they could start debating again as he put on his buckled boots.

Looking about the room as Alfred got himself ready, Yao commented, "Seems that you had a nightmare again. I'm guessing that it's the same ones as before? Are you okay?"

Alfred thought back to the dream he had. The moon that had been painted red, towering flames all around, air full of screams of those dying, the smell of burning wood and flesh, the soldier, that red uniform, and most importantly, the strange hazy figure that appeared just before he woke up.

The last two times had been the same scene as well. Except that with each passing time, the dreams seemed much more detailed than the last. It felt as if the events in his dreams did happen, like it was a part of his memory, a part of his past that he had forgotten.

Shaking his head, Alfred looked up and replied with a big smile, "Yeah it was the same dream as the last two," placing his chin on his hand, his brow furrowed in thought, he continued on.

"It's much more detailed that before, like pieces of the puzzle falling into place. But the thing that intrigues me the most is the figure I saw before I got woken up. I've never gone that far in my previous dreams. If I had more time maybe I could have seen that person or creature's face."

"These reoccurring dreams sounds like something that might have actually happened, but for you to start remembering them now… what does it mean? And this figure sounds like bad news if it was true. Pity you woke up before you could have a clearer look, though it's not for certain you would be able to see its face. But if it is an event that happened when you were younger, maybe the King would have an answer." Wang Yao said thoughtfully.

"Do you want to burn the mansion down? And I think we're forgetting someone."

"Ivan is right, we can talk about this later. For now we better go get him out before anything happens. I'm guessing you have the car ready Yao." Alfred said with a lopsided smile as he headed out of his room into the tall and spacious elegantly decorated hallway, while glancing back at Yao as both of them followed close behind.

Walking through the hallway filled with long draperies, potted plants, and windows that have been placed at carefully planned intervals to let the cool morning air flow in most efficiently, Alfred, whistling a soft tune and started off towards the direction of the main entrance of the castle-alike mansion that overlooked the grand City of Epistylium, capital of the nation Sanctus, without a single glance at the beauty around him, his mind half focused at the task at hand. He had been walking down this hallway for years anyways.

As they were reaching their sleek and menacing convertible car, Alfred heard a familiar voice calling his name. He sighed in exasperation before turning to see, as he had expected, his older brother and Crown Prince of Sanctus, Francis. Unlike Alfred, he had beautiful wavy shoulder-length blond hair with a tinge of brown, blue eyes and slight stubble on his chin, standing by the steps leading up to the huge double doors of the mansion, waving at him with a huge smile on his face.

It was not that Alfred hated his brother. It is true that he wouldn't like the predictable conversation, but it would be rude to ignore him. Especially now that he had caught his brother's attention.

Striding towards where Alfred tensed up by the car, Francis lifted his hand and came down hard on Alfred's head, causing Alfred to buckle a little, his glasses almost falling off despite having braced himself. Behind them, Wang Yao and Ivan stood a few meters away watching amusingly, with Yao trying to hide his smile as Francis went on and shuffled Alfred's hair vigorously.

More like trying to pull all of his hair out, Alfred thought.

"Where is my cute little brother going off to, at so close to breakfast? Finally found a girl to keep you company? Though I have trouble imagining any girl would want you." Francis laughed as he pushed Alfred away from him. "Come back soon alright? Last night, Father mentioned that he wanted to speak with you."

"As you say Francis," Alfred coughed as he steadied himself with the help of the car while pushing his glasses back on properly. "It's good to see you back home safely. I'll try to be back before breakfast is over."

"Francis? Aww come on little brother, call me big bro like you used to when you were younger. You are so much cuter in the past. But I guess everything has an end." Francis sighed, shaking his head dramatically as he headed up the marble stairs into the mansion. "I'll tell Father that so don't be late alright? It'll be sad to see you get shot down by him for being late again."

Rubbing his sore head, Alfred hopped into the back of the car. "Stop smiling and hurry up," he said with a pout. "I wish he would stop doing that," Alfred muttered as Ivan jumped in beside him, while Yao took the wheel, with the smiles they were hiding now clear on their faces.

"You can't deny the fact that you did follow His Royal Highness around like a lost puppy wherever he went when you were younger."

"Or the fact that you would run around crying whenever he left the mansion for a few days, isn't that right Yao?"

"That's only when Father wasn't around either. The whole calling him 'big bro' thing was because he forced me to say it." Alfred snapped, face flushing as Yao started up the car.

"Keep telling yourself that. Maybe you might just convince yourself someday." Ivan laughed while Alfred threw him an angry look as they sped down the driveway pass the tall arched metal gate towards the bridge that went into the bustling city.

The City of Epistylium has stood for thousands of years since the nation was first formed. Underneath its spiralling skyscrapers unlike any other country, stood tall buildings of brick and stone, forever changing and growing in magic and technology along with the great nation Sanctus.

The prison was only a short distance away from the bridge, and soon, they were parked outside its tall iron gates. The soldiers on duty, surprised to see the prince so suddenly, rushed back to their positions as the guard captain hurried down to greet them.

Stepping out of the car, Alfred looked up at the forbidding building before him and recalled the number of times he had been here. The last four times had been to bust Antonio out, but before that, there had been a time where he was thrown in for a few days by his Father, as punishment when he almost destroyed half the mansion when he went a little overboard while testing out a new card trick he had learnt.

"You are nobody if you have no control over yourself. Stay in there and learn some restrain." King Roderich words echoed in his mind as he sat on the cold hard stone floor of the prison, lamenting his actions.

Even though it could be considered a bad experience at that time, he had learnt a lot in prison, from the inmates who had either tried to bully or befriend him to the soldiers who had been ordered, though most of them failed, to treat him the same as the rest within. Smiling at the memory, Alfred turned his gaze towards Yao, who was already talking to the prison head as Ivan stood beside him, his arms folded making him look much more intimidating than he already was.

The guard captain was apologizing frantically to Yao, his eyes darting nervous glances at Ivan who just tried to smile reassuringly but in result unnerved the man more. Alfred walked up to them, his boots crunching loudly on the loose grit stone floor. With another apology, the guard captain whose crimson uniform was drenched in sweat hurried up the steps into the huge stone prison.

"A new guy" Ivan noted a bit too happily as the three of them followed slowly behind.

"It would seem so," Wang Yao agreed. "The other guards are already used to us coming here." He finished as he eyed rather irritably at one of the guards who was still munching on his bread while standing at attention.

"It's always interesting to see how a new captain reacts when they see us here. They often end up asking for a transfer." Alfred chuckled with a mischievous smirk on his face.

Alfred purposefully strolled slowly to the holding cell, giving the guard captain who was frantically pushing the buttons on the control panel to get the magic barrier down some extra time. Even though he had seen the magic barrier more times than he would like to, its mechanism never failed to amaze him. The magic barrier was powered by one of the smaller thirteen Astral Crystals in the City of Epistylium, with the largest and most powerful crystal located right underneath the lone island the mansion stood upon. Such feats of magical technology were not found in any of the other nations. Well at least from what he could remember. Things might have changed over the past few years since he had last visited any nation.

Shrugging the thought pass him, Alfred peeked in pass the shimmering barrier to see his close friend Antonio Fernandez Carriedo lying on the floor with his eyes closed, his arms crossed to cushion his head. Knocking on the barrier, Alfred did an energetic wave to Antonio. Upon seeing that his buddies hasn't forgotten about him, Antonio jumped up to his feet while picking up his sleeveless red collared jacket that was lying on the floor, his green eyes sparkling with happiness from seeing them.

"As happy as ever isn't he." Yao muttered with a frown yet amused look on his face as he walked up next to Alfred.

"I thought you guys had forgotten about me!" Antonio said, his cheerful voice muffled slightly by the barrier. "Being stuck in this small little cell for the whole night was horrible! No soft bed or a bath, and worst of all, that guy refused to give me a drink!" Antonio complained, one hand pointing at the guard captain accusingly while ruffling his messy curly brown hair.

"If someone had decided to keep out of trouble this wouldn't have happened da?" Ivan chided as the barrier finally flickered and disappeared.

"Aww come on, cut me some slack I actually tried to keep out of trouble this time. I can't help it if trouble comes finding me, can I?" Antonio protested.

"So what did you do this time?" Alfred asked ignoring Antonio's cry of innocence as the latter yawned and stretched, walking out of the cell.

"What? Oh, I was just walking down the street near the bridge when I spotted this shady looking group of people. One of them was even carrying this huge bag on his shoulder. So being a GOOD citizen of Sanctus, I decided to follow them and see what they were up to." Antonio replied.

"A good citizen would report the group to the authorities. Not follow them." Wang Yao said, shaking his head disapprovingly.

"It was late at night, and I was tired. Who would think so much?" Antonio grumbled.

"Not tired enough to find trouble though." Wang Yao piped.

"But… As I was saying," Antonio huffed, "I followed them underneath the bridge, and I saw them huddling around one of the supporting pillars by the bank. Then the guy with the huge bag started taking out this strange looking device and started approaching the pillar. And as anybody would know, a dubious looking group of people huddling together to plant a weird device on the bridge is surely bad news. So I shouted at them and was about to go charging forth when the guards arrived. They caught me for suspicious behaviour though it wasn't my fault, and let those people get away." Antonio continued, glaring at Yao who just ignored him.

"A strange group by the bridge…" Alfred thought aloud while flipping the card into the air and catching it as it was falling back down, purposefully ignoring the guard captain looking nervously at him shaking in his boots.

"The sentries at the top bridge did not report seeing a bunch of people under the bridge, only Antonio being taken away screaming in protest." Yao commented.

"Did your men report anything captain?" Alfred asked, turning to face the guard captain whose face was now as white as snow, while closing his hands around the card, making it dissipate into thin air.

Shaking like a leaf, the guard captain squeaked, "Y-yes Your Highness, I had assumed that it was just a bunch of hooligans running away after we wrongly caught your most gracious friend. I will send out a team to investigate at once."

"There's no need." Alfred cut in, causing the guard captain to flinch from his words. "I'll look into it. If it is a threat, Father and Brother might be in danger… though I'm sure that they can protect themselves. And it'll prove a useful distraction."

"Plus I'm a hero after all, I'll make sure justice is served!" Alfred added, flashing a grin and a thumbs up.

"The royal guards can look into this matter, but if you put it that way, I guess there's nothing I can do about it." Yao sighed at what his charge would do to get off with his usual mediocre tasks.

"Well then, are we heading back to the castle? I need a bath, pronto." Antonio said swinging his jacket across his shoulder.

"It might look like one, but it's a mansion not a castle." Ivan corrected, while patting the shaking guard captain softly on his back with a look of fake sympathy on his face to calm him down. Ivan was clearly having fun watching the guard captain squirm.

"We did better pick up the pace Your Highness. If we hurry, you might be able to make it in time for breakfast." Yao interrupted as he fished his pocket watch out to look at the time.

"Yeah, let's wrap things up here and get back." Alfred said. "Thanks for your help and don't worry so much," he told the guard captain light-heartedly as they hurried down the corridor, leaving the guard captain out cold on the hard floor by the control panel.


	3. Chapter 02

Disclaimer: Don't own Hetalia.

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Chapter 02

The sun was peeking out from under the skyscrapers, doting the city as they swerved up to the driveway. Jumping out of the car as it came to a halt, Alfred raced up the marble stairs two steps at a time, with mere minutes to spare till breakfast is served. The rest however, got out slowly while Wang Yao passed the car keys to a servant to park the car. They had the luxury of time, but Alfred didn't. Even though he had told Francis that he would be back before breakfast is over, he knew without a doubt that Father would still be most displeased with him to not be there right at the start.

"Don't worry, hurry up and go find his Majesty aru. I'll make sure that Antonio doesn't get into any more trouble." Yao called out with a smile from behind while swinging his arm around Antonio's neck, as Alfred stopped to turn to them halfway up the stairs.

With a quick wave of thanks, Alfred ran pass the huge foyer lined with posh sofas and armchairs down the hallway and stopped just in front of the door to the dining hall. Calming his racing heart, Alfred took a deep breath to ready himself and opened the door, to find a ball of soft white fur flying towards his face.

"Alfred, a few more seconds and you would have been late. Now please stop playing with Kumajirou and take your seat," a voice that radiated command said as Alfred who was actually enjoying himself tried half-heartedly to cover his face from licks while prying off the over-excited polar bear cub.

With an obvious grin on his face, Alfred immediately got Kuma off him, petting the whining cub on its head while placing it back down on the floor. Wiping his face with a towel, Alfred quickly thanked the servant who gave it him with a quick smile, before taking his seat beside his grinning brother who gave him a thumbs up. Opposite him sat his father, King Roderich who had his eyes on him as he finally settled down.

"I apologize for my tardiness Father, something came at the last minute." Alfred reasoned as a servant placed his breakfast in front of him.

"It's fine. At least you made it in time for breakfast, and not after." King Roderich said as he picked up his knife while looking at Alfred, making Alfred shift slightly in his seat uncomfortably as he wondered inwardly if that was praise or that he was just merely forgiven.

Halfway through the silent breakfast, King Roderich suddenly spoke. "I do hope that the both of you have made the proper preparations for tonight."

Alfred paused for a moment, his fork stopping in mid-air, his mind a total blank. He had totally forgotten about whatever event was going to be on at night. He remembered Francis rambling over his outfit but he couldn't remember what the event actually was.

Ruffling the back of his head with a small laugh, Alfred smiling sheepishly at his Father merely looked up, as King Roderich said with a sigh, "Oblitus officials are arriving later in the afternoon. We will be holding a ball to welcome them later in the evening, and I expect the both of you to be there."

Slightly embarrassed for forgetting such an important event, Alfred was about to open his mouth to sprout out an excuse when his father interrupted him, guessing what he was about to say.

"It's fine that you forgot about it, I know that you have been having some problems with your nightmares lately. Try not to let it affect your waking hours." King Roderich soothed. "And I can see that you have something to ask me, Alfred."

"Yes Father." Alfred said, putting down his fork unsurprised that his father knew that he had been burning with urge to speak up. "I've heard of a sighting of a strange group of people underneath the bridge. Though their intention is still unknown, I believe that it might be in our best interest to carry out an investigation on them."

"I see, and I'm assuming that you wanted to investigate this yourself?"

"Yes Father."

"Under normal circumstances I would be glad to let you handle this on your own, but I would like you to do something for me. Francis, could look into this matter instead?"

There was a slight pause, Alfred pondered if his brother hesitated, before Francis gave a slight nod while dabbling his mouth with a napkin, King Roderich continued, "I'll tell you what I would like for you to do later in private Alfred, but for now is there anything else the both of you would like to tell me?"

"Yes, actually I-"

"How many officials would be turning up this evening, Father?" Francis interrupted, putting his napkin down on the table. "And is there anybody that we should be aware of?"

Raising an eyebrow, King Roderich answered, "No more than ten I presume. The prince of Oblitus might be coming, so take note of that. Please don't interrupt your brother next time."

Raising his hand out slightly in apology, Francis cheerfully said, "Sorry sorry, I'm just a bit excited for tonight's event. May I be excused? I want to make sure that I'm in top romantic shape for tonight."

"And to check out that group under the bridge." He quickly added as King Roderich looked straight at him.

"You may be excused." King Roderich sighed, waving his hand.

"Alright, thank you Father, I'll see the both of you later." Francis chipped while standing up quickly, almost knocking into Kuma who was lying under the long polished marble table next to Alfred.

Alfred watched puzzled as Francis left the dining hall, closing the door behind him as Kuma huffed softly, irritated that he was almost kicked in the head. His brother normally stayed till the end of breakfast, leaving the dining hall last even if he had finished all his food. And he would never get up from his seat in such a rash manner, often even reprimanding Alfred himself for leaving the cutleries in the wrong position and rushing out of his seat. But for reasons unknown, Francis had left early instead. Petting Kuma to calm it down, Alfred turned his attention back to his father, who had finished the food on his plate and was wiping his mouth with a napkin.

"Now, what was it you wanted to tell me?" King Roderich after thanking the servants who cleared their plates.

"It's about the nightmares." Alfred answered, repeating his father's actions though much more sloppily. "All three times had been the same scene, getting clearer and progressing with each occurrence. At first it was just a burning village. Then the screams in the air, the soldier whom I killed, and that strange figure I saw just before I woke up."

"And you think that this is not just some reoccurring progressive nightmare. That this scene you're seeing is actually something that did happen."

"It is possible. I was wondering if perhaps Father, you know about it."

"Tell me Alfred, was the soldier in your dream wearing our nation's uniform?"

"Yes, but how did you know Father?" Alfred asked, puzzled.

"A wild guess." King Roderich quickly waved off. "Did you happen see the face of the figure that appeared to you at the end?"

"No. All I saw was a hazy figure appearing out from the shadows, reaching out its hand towards me before getting woken up by Ivan. Do you know anything about it?" Alfred asked again, watching his Father intently while leaning back and unconsciously stroking Kuma who had jumped onto his lap.

"No. But if you do happen to see the figure's face or if your nightmare progresses in any way, that you accept the hand, come see me at once Alfred, is that clear?" King Roderich said, his tone suddenly serious.

"Y-yes Father." Alfred answered, confused by the sudden change in his father's usual cool tone.

He could see a slight relieved smile spread across his father's face for a second, before it disappeared back to the King's usual slightly stern looking expression. Alfred could tell that there was something his father was hiding from him, and he really wanted to find out want. But he knew better than to pry, knowing from experience that he would never get an answer. Once the King has decided on something, it was almost impossible to change his mind, unless Alfred came up with a really good reason, which is hardly possible at all.

"Now then, for this task that I would like you to do for me." King Roderich suddenly announced, snapping Alfred back in attention.

"I assume that you have forgotten one of the reasons for the visit by the Oblitus Officials as well." King Roderich said.

Guilty as charged, Alfred gave a slight embarrassed nod with a grin on his face.

King Rego continued, "Emperor Roma of Urbis has invited an ambassador from all four nations for a conference in two weeks' time in their capital, regarding an old enemy that threatens our world, which he claims to have returned. A part of the Oblitus officials are passing by for that, while the others are here for agendas of our own. I have thought about it, and I have decided to send you as the representative for our nation. You are to leave with the Oblitus Officials five days from now. To Urbis."

"Ye— wait me? What about Francis, Father? Shouldn't he be a more suitable representative seeing that he's the Crown Prince?" Alfred exclaimed, immediately regretting his slight outburst as his Father looked at him, scarily calm as before.

"I'm honoured Father, but may I know why me and not Francis?" Alfred asked once again in a calmer voice as Kuma sensing its master's sudden slight nervousness jumped back down onto the marble floor.

Breathing in deeply, King Roderich said slowly, "This threat, real or not, that is to be discussed is one of great importance. And even though Francis is the Crown Prince and I am sure he wouldn't be happy that I have decided to send you instead. I believe that the knowledge you'll learn about this enemy will be of more use to you than your brother. I will not go into the details as of why at this moment, but I hope that you would trust me."

Alfred hesitated for a while, but finally with an inward sigh, he stated. "Alright Father, I'll go as the representative. But I ask to choose the people who will be travelling with me. I promise that we will not do anything rash there."

"Very well, you can bring Antonio with you to Urbis." King Roderich said with a slight smile.

"Thank you Father." Alfred smiled appreciatively. "For now, may I know who or what this enemy is?"

King Roderich paused for a while before answering: "What do you know of the Monte, more importantly of the one who calls himself Germania?"

 _Germania_. Strange images suddenly flashed across his mind when he heard that name. Alfred gasped, jerking forward in his seat, his head suddenly in pain like someone had sent an electric jolt through it. He felt as if a pair of invisible hands had reached out from behind and grabbed both his lungs, crushing the air out of them. The images lasted only for a split second, not even long enough for him to grasp what they were, but he felt as if he had been shown something of great importance that should never be forgotten.

His heart was racing, and everything became hazy and blurred as if somebody had shone a strong beam of white light directly into his eyes. The corruption on his left hand started burning, the feeling like sandpaper scraping across his bare skin. Alfred quickly clutched his hand down and hard towards his chest, gasping hard for air, trying to contain the pain as he instinctively curled his body into a ball.

His hand had not felt like this for a long time, and when it started, Alfred immediately knew what was going on, though he was confused as to why the name would trigger it. The corruption was spreading once again. Looking down through half-closed blurry eyes, he could make out small flickers of blue flames peeking out from the edge of the glove as the jet-black scales began to grow.

"Are you alright?" Alfred heard his father ask, his usual calm and strong voice now soft with concern.

Focusing his still blurry sight, Alfred forced his head up, opening his eyes to what seemed like white blinding light, and could see that his father has stood up and was looking at him from across the table with worry all over his face usually calm face.

"I'm fine." Alfred said, forcing a small pained smile towards his father. "I'm a hero after all."

His head still felt like someone was hitting a hammer against it, but the burning sensation on his hand had decreased to a mere aching pain, signalling that the corruption has stopped growing, at least for now. Alfred took in deep breaths to calm his racing heart, slowly letting go of his hand and leaning back against the chair.

"Leave us." King Roderich commanded the servants as he walked around the table as composed as he could towards Alfred.

"Take off your glove." He sat down on the chair beside Alfred as Alfred blinked a few times to clear his white blurry vision.

"It's spreading more than it used to in the past. A few more times and it will reach your elbow" King Roderich stated as Alfred pulled off the glove on his shaking hand.

"Did you see anything?" he asked as Alfred tenderly rubbed the edge where the corruption and his own skin met.

"Flashes of images, but they were too fast for me to focus on. Why would that name trigger an episode?" Alfred both questioned and wondered as he put his glove back on, pushing the pounding headache away.

King Roderich went silent. "I am sorry Alfred, but I… do not know."

Alfred was about to open his mouth to protest, knowing that his Father was lying. But when he looked at his Father deep in thought beside him, Alfred could see his usual stern expression was replaced with one of tired sadness and longing. The last time he had seen this expression on his Father's face was years ago, when he had sat down with a then young Alfred to explain how his Mother was never coming back.

His Father has his secrets, and Alfred knew that with that look on his face, he would not be able to get anything out of him no matter how much he pestered, just like when he asked his Father again and again why and how his Mother died.

"An accident", his Father had bluntly put it. But Alfred could see on his face that it was more than a mere 'accident'. Thinking back, Alfred realized that that was after an episode as well. In fact it was right after his very first episode, the first time the corruption appeared on the palm of his hand.

Finally, King Roderich leaned back on his chair with a sigh and rubbed his eyes. Alfred could hear him muttering something to himself, but he could not make out any of the words his Father was saying. It irritated Alfred to no end, knowing that his Father was clearly hiding something from him, but there was nothing he could do other than continue on.

"So who is this Germania and who is he to the Monte?" Alfred asked, effectively bringing his father out from his thoughts.

The name sounded strangely familiar on his tongue. He felt as if it belonged to someone close to him, someone important. But Alfred could swear that he had not heard of the name before, even after the effect it had on him was as clear as day.

Opening his eyes, King Roderich, realizing that he had lost his composure before his son, quickly sat back up with his usual calm expression and said, "As you should already know, the Monte are grotesque creatures that live in the caves and mountain tunnels throughout the world, appearing out of their nests only at night. It is said that they were once people, who in their greed, tried unsuccessfully to bind the Astral Crystals to their will. And because of that, they became the twisted abominations they now are, with an unquenchable thirst for the flesh and blood of us humans."

"But aren't the Monte not considered as much of a threat? Seeing how they're mindless creatures who only appear in the dead of the night, incapable of any organized attacks." Alfred voiced out, glad that the conversation was now underway.

King Roderich nodded before continuing, "The Monte only appear in groups of four or five at the very maximum. Even then, they are incapable of coordinating among themselves, and tend to only get in each other's way. However, unlike the others, Germania is capable of thought and heard to be plentiful good at schemes. He is able to command the hordes of Monte to do his bidding."

"But how did you know of him?" Now Alfred was curious.

"A few centuries ago, Germania appeared with an army of Monte behind him and a great war broke forth. The lucky ones died while others were tainted by the corruption and turned into the creatures themselves. Our ancestor, the King of Sanctus at that time saw the danger he posted, and together with the other three nations fought against him. It was then that they learnt of his name and intelligence, and the plan he had for the world. Germania seeks to destroy that he had once sought to control, the Astral Crystals. If he were to succeed, he could possibly bring about the end of the world as we know it."

Alfred could hardly believe what he just heard. The Astral Crystals are the source of power for almost everything in the world. Without the power of the Crystals, the life energy of the world would wane, and natural disasters would befall the land.

"But if he was defeated all those years ago… how can he still be around?"

"He was defeated, yes, but not killed. The Monte can live for a long time, and before he retreated back into the shadows, he swore that he would return to finish what he started."

"And now according to Emperor Roma of Urbis, he is back." Alfred finished.

King Roderich nodded, "I don't know what evidence he has that claims Germania has returned, but I must admit that there has been an increase in reports of Monte activity for the past months."

"Now then, is there anything else you would like to ask me?" King Roderich concluded, leaning forward, cool perceptive eyes on Alfred.

"No Father." lied Alfred.

"Very well then, I'll see you tonight Alfred." King Roderich said, standing up. "I have asked for the servants to bring all the documents we have on Germania and the Monte to your study."

"Oh and Antonio is welcome to stay for tonight's event as well. Do try not to be late." King Roderich added, before heading out of the dining hall, as Alfred stood up and helplessly watched him leave, with Kuma beside him.

With a soft sigh, Alfred stood alone in the dining hall, allowing all the details of the conversation to sink in. He was dying to know as to whom this Germania is, and what his Father was keeping from him, but he knew that it would be naught impossible to get them at this moment in time. For now, the answers would have to wait, as Alfred beckoned Kuma to follow as he too headed out of the dining hall to find the others.


	4. Chapter 03

Disclaimer: Don't own Hetalia.

* * *

Chapter 03

Automatically, Alfred headed towards the lush elegant patio behind the mansion, knowing without a doubt that he would find them there. Alfred walked out into the welcoming warmth of sunlight and smell of wisteria flowers and freshly cut grass. Feeling a tad drowsy from the warm sun on his face, Alfred followed behind slowly with a huge smile on his face as Kuma tumbled ahead of him towards the three sitting underneath the shelter of a tree talking with empty plates on the elegantly carved metal table beside them.

"Hey Al, took you long enough!" Antonio called with a wide smile on his face, jumping up as Alfred strolled closer while Kuma immediately bounced up onto a chair and snuggled up into a ball of pure white fur.

"A hero's work is never done. You could have just started training without me." Alfred said with a yawn as he slouched down on a chair beside Wang Yao.

"And miss all the fun of seeing you getting trashed? I think not." Antonio laughed.

"Well then, you three have fun aru. I'll see if I can find anything more on the mysterious group Antonio saw." Yao said, standing up stretching.

"As a matter of fact, Father has asked Francis to take over this case." Alfred called out, a grin clear on his face, as Wang Yao was about to walk off with a skip in his steps. He never got tired of spoiling Yao's perfectly laid out plans for himself, even if this time it wasn't of his doing.

"That means that you have no excuse not to join us, da?" Ivan said, getting up from his seat with that creepy curved smile of his as Yao jumped slightly at his voice before letting out a heavy sigh.

"Why did the King decide to pass it to Francis? I was actually kind of looking forward to finding them." Antonio grumbled.

"We're going to Urbis instead." Alfred replied simply, as Antonio's face immediately lid up.

"Does that mean that King Roderich has asked for you to be our nation's ambassador for the summit in two weeks' time?" Wang Yao exclaimed, turning around abruptly, clearly surprised at the news.

"Yeah. I'm a hero after all. Funny how he still appointed me even after the fact that I had totally forgotten about it and tonight's event for the Oblitus officials." Alfred said, crossing his legs and putting his hands behind to cushion his head as he leaned back down, before turning to Antonio, "Oh and Father said that you're welcome to stay for the ball tonight." He added with a thumbs up, as Antonio whooped at the news.

"Awesome! I still have some sort of formal outfit here right?" Antonio asked with a grin.

"It's being kept together with all your other things in the guest room you always sleep in aru." Yao groaned as he walked back to the three of them with a sigh. Antonio at big events was pretty much like a bomb set to explode, taking Wang Yao along with the explosion to clear out whatever the problem Antonio had created.

"Shall we get started? We still haven't finished our little match from this morning boy. And you have got your partisan back from the guard captain?" Ivan turned to Antonio.

"Got back? That guy didn't even confiscate it. He thought it was just some junk I found." Antonio scoffed as he took out what looked like a metal stick not longer than the length of his forearm from the inner pocket of his jacket.

Antonio threw the stick into the air, catching it as it fell, and with a quick swing of his arm, the metal stick began to transform. The sound of rotating gears could be heard as the metal stick creaked and started extending in length from both ends. Just as it was about to reach its maximum length, the end that was facing away from Antonio started to open up, a sharp pointed blade forming out from within. And within a few seconds, it had changed into a partisan, with the curved blade at the side of the spearhead coming out last, clicking into place as electricity crackled across the tip of the spearhead all the way down the head.

"One day you might hold your partisan wrongly, and the spearhead will open up your body along as it opens up." Ivan noted with a cheery smile as Antonio swung his partisan over his shoulders, the smirk on his face quickly changing into one of slight fear.

"T-that wouldn't happen. I know up from down as clear as I know my own hand. And you have machinery in your weapon too it might happen to you instead." Antonio retorted, slightly rattled at the thought as he struck the blunt end of his 2-meter long partisan into the soil, the weight of the partisan making a slight puncture as it landed.

"Ehhhh really?" Ivan merely replied as he reached into his coat to take out a seemly harmless looking short metal tube. Holding it upright in his hand, Ivan clicked on a hidden button, and a small whirring sound could be heard. Immediately, the tube started to unfold, extending in length, and a second, the small harmless tube had changed into a harmless looking cane. But every single person standing there knew that the cane was not as harmless as it looked. The sight of an innocently smiling Ivan holding his harmless looking cane would send warning alarms ringing in even the most battle-hardened veterans.

"This looks so much better, da?" Ivan chirped as he placed both hands on the cane's handle, resting them on it.

"You should thank the engineers who infused your weapon's machinery with magic to change the weight and metal density back to its original state when you activate it aru." Yao said, trying to keep his tone calm in a matter-of-fact way, hoping to clear the dark atmosphere of fear that Ivan had unknowingly created.

Pulling his gloves down tight as he clenched his fists, the once invisible runes on the gloves glowing slightly, Yao continued on with a lopsided smile. "Well then, let's get started lest the day ends with us just standing here talking. I promise not to infuse too much magic or hit any of you too hard. All you'll feel is a tiny peck as I eliminate all of you aru."

"Even if you did infuse your punches with magic you still can't possibly kill anybody with a single hit; unlike us." Antonio taunted swinging his partisan's spearhead towards Yao, electrical sparks crackling and flying across the tip.

"Landing two in a roll or more is as easy as blinking." Yao replied calmly, raising his fists at Antonio, making him stop in his tracks and gulp. "And I can bring you into a world of pain with just one."

Just then, a card came flying pass their faces much to their astonishment as Alfred threw a card at each direction, making an invisible square with all four of them in it.

"The hero's speaking! Listen up! Since there's the four of us, let's go by elimination." Alfred said as he stood up, flicking a card into existence on his hand with a huge smile on his face. "If you get knocked out or leave the square, you're out. Last person standing wins, and of course that'll be me since I'm the hero."

"Sounds good to me." Ivan said, with a smile, as Antonio replied with a "Same here," along with Wang Yao who nodded in agreement,"Hao de aru".

The first one out was Antonio, getting knocked off his feet by Yao with a sweeping kick while trying to dodge a smiling Ivan who sent him flying out of the square with a painful jab with the tip of his cane. Next was Wang Yao who stepped out of the square on his own, forced into a corner by Alfred's constant warping that pushed him to the edge of the boundary. Finally Alfred and Ivan were the only two left as Yao and Antonio who had picked Kuma up watched on.

"So am I still not allowed to use my warping magic on items?" Alfred asked, spinning a dagger on his right hand while drawing a card out from thin air with his left, his breathing slow and steady.

"Well, since you asked nicely, I'll allow you use it twice for each round. Though there's still no way you'll be able to beat me." Ivan replied mockingly with a smile as the two of them circled each other, each waiting for the other to make the first move.

"Once is enough for me, the hero will finish this fast." Alfred said with a cocky grin on his face as he leaned down slightly, digging the heel of his boots into the grass, focusing his gaze solely on Ivan.

Without warning, Alfred leapt straight at Ivan, his dagger raised horizontally across his face as he threw his card forward. Ivan shifted slightly to the right, his arm covering his face, dodging the card as it exploded and turned back to see nothing but the green grass where Alfred was just a second ago. Instinctively, Ivan leaned back to his left just as an ice encrusted dagger went flying pass his head, as Alfred warped to the card that he had thrown when Ivan was distracted by the blast. Ivan, laughing in glee immediately swept his cane up towards Alfred who blocked it just in time with his dagger, getting thrown back by the force of the swing.

"Not bad boy. It's a smart move to coat your dagger with ice magic, it would have been bad if it hit me." Ivan called out, a smile on his face as a thin layer of ice melted off his cane as Alfred flew back and rolled across the soft grass.

"I'll make sure it does next time." Alfred replied with a grunt as he stuck his dagger into the ground, slowing down while using his dagger as a pivot to change his direction back towards Ivan. Using the momentum, Alfred quickly got back on his feet, running towards Ivan who stood waiting happily as he threw two cards; one straight at him while the other aimed at the area above his head.

Instead of dodging, Ivan knocked the card away as it came flying directly towards him, and just as he was about to do the same to the other, he noticed another card hidden in the path of the one he just evaded. Choosing to ignore the one directly above him for now, Ivan prepared to knock the hidden card away, when it suddenly glowed and a dagger came flying along with it. Slightly surprised, Ivan quickly turned and grabbed the dagger from mid-air instead, as Alfred warped towards the card above his head, dropping down just beside him.

"Told you, once is enough." Alfred grinned trying to catch his breath as the blade of his dagger hovered inches away from Ivan's throat.

"Da. But do you really think that you've won?" Ivan asked smiling cheekily as he poked Alfred a little too hard in the ribs with the dagger that he had caught in mid-air.

"So it's a tie aru." Wang Yao announced walking towards them with Antonio close behind, carrying a squirming Kuma in his arms.

"It might look like one but I would have won if it continued on." Ivan said as he dropped both his cane and the dagger, grabbed Alfred by the collar and flipped him over and onto the ground with a thud.

"That wasn't necessary was it?" Alfred groaned, getting up into a sitting position as Ivan looked at him with an I-told-you-so smile on his face.

"Nope, but it is good practice, da? Keep your eye on the enemy even when you think the battle has ended." Ivan advised as Alfred dusted the dirt off his coat.

"That is what I call a fight!" Antonio exclaimed as Kuma finally wiggled free from his arms. "The both of you were really out to get each other!"

"Next round it's going to be you on the ground." Ivan said tilting his head down with a smirk on his face, looking at Antonio who was trying to pick Kuma up again.

"What? No thanks there's no way I'm going to let you flip me around like a rag doll. I'm still hurting from that jab just now."

"So then round two in ten? Though I think that would give all of us an unfair advantage over Al aru." Yao said looking at Alfred as he continued panting while sitting motionless on the ground with his head down.

"Wouldn't you like that? Picking on the hero when he's tired." Alfred grimaced as he stood back up with a groan.

"But it's much more fun like this, da? Plus we got to work on your control on your item warping magic. That dagger you warped towards me was totally off target and wobbly." Ivan reasoned, patting Alfred painfully hard on the shoulder with a smile on his face.

"The fast pace between each sparing sessions would help in improving your stamina as well, and hopefully next time you won't be so tired after using it just once." Yao added as they went back to the chairs sheltered by the shadow of the tree for a quick break.

Round two ended up with Wang Yao winning, hitting Ivan in the back with a electricity infused punch as he turned to finish off Alfred who tried the same dagger warping technique on him again. However, Ivan came up on top for the third round, follow by Antonio for the fourth. Alfred was only able to shave off a close win in the fifth round where he finally decided not to use his item warping magic on that final round.

Falling down hard on the ground and panting as the cards drawing the border of the square dissipated into thin air, Alfred felt as if he was going to faint, his whole body burning from the almost continuous sparing sessions.

"Come on Al, it's only mid noon, we've only been sparing for slightly more than two hours. Are you really that worn out?" Antonio asked squatting down beside Alfred poking him on the cheek much to Alfred's annoyance.

"I wouldn't be if I kept to my normal magic." Alfred muttered gasping for air while trying to slap Antonio's hand away to no avail.

"So you're stronger without your strongest magic." Ivan shortened as Kuma took the chance to use its master as a cushion. "At least your stamina did improve, the last time you could only last till the third round before collapsing. Though we still got to work on the strength and aim of your item warping magic. All four times were unstable, and the last two were just pebbles."

"We can work on them tomorrow. The hero is beat." Alfred groaned as Yao stepped in to pull Alfred up. "I just want to get washed up and find somewhere quiet to lie down."

"And I suggest you do. The Oblitus officials will be arriving soon along with the start of the ball in a few hours' time aru." Yao said as sounds of excitement and running could be heard from within the mansion. "It would be good for you to look through the documents before you meet the Oblitus officials."

"Yeah." Alfred replied, thankful that the sparring exercises has finally came to an end, as he stood up, his legs shaking slightly from the effort. "I'll just wash up and rest in my study and maybe look through a few of the documents while I'm at it. Father said that he had already asked for the servants to bring them there."

"Very well." Wang Yao said and gave Alfred a hand to steady himself. "I'll help you in sorting out some of the documents aru. The better you understand the topic the more prepared you'll be, Your Highness."

"I'll be coming along too then, see what I can do to help." Antonio tagged along. Closely behind followed a shuffling Ivan after calling out "Me too," while Kumajirou opted to stay behind to laze in the lush patio.

The study was a mess as usual. The shelves that lined the beautifully textured walls were mostly empty; its contents spilled all across the smooth wooden floor. Even the soft posh armchair and intricately carved wooden coffee table, safe for his own leather seat and desk were cover in piles of books and documents. To make matters worse, the piles of documents and papers regarding the topic for the talks had been dumped onto the tables by the side of the wall next to the door and floor as well. It was impossible for anyone but Alfred who was already making his way smoothly while whistling to the neat stack of documents on his desk to navigate through into the room.

"It's a wonder how you are able to work here in this messy environment. It seems that I have more work than I expected." Yao frowned as he tried to make his way slowly into the room, almost knocking into a stack of papers that was blocking his way. "I know you wouldn't want me to but we have to clean up your study before starting anything."

"I like it like this. I know where everything is, and all that I need is within reach." Alfred complained looking at Yao who stared at him firmly with his arms folded, before finally giving way. "Fine. Nobody would be able to find anything here except for me." Alfred sighed as he started picking up a few books on his desk, figuring out where they went.

Cleaning up the study was hard work, and by the time the last book was finally placed back into its proper place and the floor and tables wiped clean, the bright afternoon sun that had been shining in through the intricate stained glass windows of different creatures was beginning to set, illuminating the entire room in a mixture of warm colours. However, the floor by the coffee table was cast full of shadows, as the towering stack of documents and papers sat wobbly on the floor, waiting to engulf all four of them when the moment comes.

"Do we really have to go through everything? Can't we just skim through a few and be done with it?" Antonio complained, as he fell down onto the soft comfy armchair beside Alfred who was fast asleep. He had fallen asleep while taking a break halfway through cleaning, and was now slouching down onto the armchair, snoring softly.

"Do you really have to ask questions to which you already know the answer?" Yao replied with an eyebrow raised, looking at Antonio as he straightened a stack of paper on the desk. "But that'll have to wait till tomorrow. There's only about an hour left till the ball starts, and we need to get ready. It is already bad enough that Al was not there to welcome the arriving Oblitus Officials while we were cleaning up. We have to be on time for this."

"A ball? It's been some time since the last one. Wonder what new people I can meet there, it would be so fun." Ivan said while tapping Alfred awake.

Shifting a yawn as he woke up, Alfred grumbled tiredly as he sat up, leaning forward with his head down as his dog tag and pendant fell out from under his shirt, clinking together and swaying from the movement, " Go away, I need more rest. I spent way too much energy utilizing all those magic at one go."

"The problems of being way too magically in-tuned." Ivan smiled while chanting, ''kolkolkolkol'' as he smacked Alfred on the back, almost making Alfred fall off the armchair. "That's why you got to train to control your magic flow and endurance. But come on up on your feet boy, there's a ball to attend. Da?"


	5. Chapter 04

Disclaimer: Don't own Hetalia.

* * *

Chapter 04

Even though Alfred enjoyed mingling with people, standing around in a full formal outfit with a bunch of politicians and officers was not his idea of fun. Pulling his collar in an idle attempt to loosen it, Alfred gripped the glass in his gloved hand tighter, taking a small sip of the glistening golden liquid within, feeling the warm burning sensation down his throat as he scanned the crowd for any who might approach him, which would be everyone within sight.

Upon hearing that he had only less than an hour left till the ball, Alfred, still in his half-frenzy had accidentally knocked over a stack of documents in his haste, and had spent a considerable amount of time picking up the papers scattered all across the floor. He didn't want to come back in the morning to clean up the mess he made again. The rest of the time had been a blur; picking out a proper outfit which as actually just a change from his black coat to a proper formal maroon coloured long coat and black formal pants, washing up, getting ready and rushing off as Wang Yao beckoned him to hurry. But now with a crowd of people standing in front of him like a swarm of hungry monsters, Alfred regretted not lingering around outside the door of the ballroom a little while longer.

Watching the crowd chatting enthusiastically at the sides and the rest dancing down at the middle of the ballroom, Alfred knew without a doubt that someone would approach him sooner or later, and drag him unwillingly into a conversation that he cared not in the slightest, but had to put up a front for. He didn't mind listening, but listening to them boast about their glamorous lives was so uncool.

Leaning against the smooth wooden edge of the metal railings, Alfred tried to get the attention of his buddies as subtly as he could, throwing them glances and trying to get their eye contact. If they came and talk to him instead, maybe none of these aggravating people would bother him. But all three of them were too engrossed with what they were doing to notice and come to his aid.

Antonio was busy stuffing himself while chatting by the bar at the far end much to the amusement of those around him, while Yao and Ivan were both busy talking to the Intelligence and Military Officials respectively. It was more like the Military Official nervously sprouting words out of his mouth while Ivan stood there smiling, Alfred realized. Alfred even hoped that Francis would come talk to him, but his brother was too busy flirting with some of the Oblitus Officials to come to his aid. Moreover, when he finally caught his brother's attention, the look that Francis gave him seemed cold and angry. Alfred guessed that he had heard that Alfred would be going to Urbis for the conference instead of him.

Sighing, Alfred took another sip, looking around to see if there was anywhere he could stand and have a better view. If he had a bird's eye view of the entire ballroom, he might be able to spot someone he wouldn't mind talking to. The best spot was currently taken by an elegant young man around his age wearing a pure white dress shirt with a long white bow around the collar, coupled with a royal blue vest and a formal long coat of the same colour that brought out his short blond hair leaning by the railings seemly glancing at his direction. Tilting his head in question, Alfred started moving towards the spot where the man was still glancing at him, though a little more frantically now. Standing there in front him, Alfred wondered why in the world did he decided to move here as an awkward silence enveloped them both.

"Would you fancy a dance?"

Alfred jumped at the sudden break of the silence. There was something strangely familiar about the man, but Alfred was pretty sure that he had never seen him before. He could tell that he was one of the officials from Oblitus, but whom exactly he did not know.

"Of course." Alfred replied quickly, trying to mask his surprise.

Alfred placed his glass down onto the tray of an approaching servant, turned back to the man and offered his hand, palms up to him with a perfect façade while wishing that he had a reason to reject him, before realizing that he had just offered the female position of the dance to the man, and was about to pull his hand back when the man in front of him just accepted it.

Now Alfred really didn't want to dance with him. It's not that there was anything wrong. The man was stunningly handsome as well, but his mind was on other things at the moment. But if they're really going to dance, Alfred decided should make the most out of it.

Walking down the imperial staircase while holding his hand, Alfred could feel the eyes of many various guests looking, studying, eyeing and gauging, making him edgy. Alfred liked being the centre of attention, but this time it felt strange and much more pressurizing than usual. Yes the both of them are guys, but this is common throughout the four nations. So what was with this atmosphere he was getting?

He could hear them whispering to each other fervently, which puzzled Alfred slightly, as a dance was fairly common, especially so for a prince. Glancing down at the orchestra by the pond underneath the staircase, which had abruptly changed the music they were playing to a soft melodic tune fit for a slow dance, Alfred could feel the man squeezing his hand softly as if assuring him, or maybe him himself instead.

"If I may, I believe I have not gotten your name." Alfred said with a smile, as the man before him placed his rigid hand on his shoulder as the music started.

Alfred could see a slight shock in the man's emerald eyes at his question, before he answered with a cool and respectful neutral tone. "My name is Arthur Kirkland."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Arthur." Alfred said carefully with a smile, feeling like he had heard of that name somewhere before, though he couldn't remember.

The dance went by slowly, with neither of them talking. But Alfred could feel Arthur constantly staring at him ever since they had started dancing. He didn't think much about it at first, but now it was starting to gnaw on his nerves. Furthermore, the way Arthur was staring at him with his eyes narrowed, now made Alfred really uneasy. Finally, Alfred under the constant pressure of the stare, preoccupied then surprised by the sudden closeness due to the dance step, flinched.

Realizing what he had done, Arthur immediately apologized. "I am so sorry. It's just that your eyes, they're tinted with silver. I've never seen that before."

Laughing, Alfred waved off the apology. "Don't worry about it. You're not the first to have asked me about it. Though no one knows why they're of this colour."

"Unless, could you by any chance have been blessed by the Goddess?"

"No I believe not." Alfred gave a short reply, coming so close to snap at Arthur as he clutched his teeth down hard in an attempt to control himself as he looked at the man in front of him. The mention of the goddess stirred an unsettling emotion in the pit of his stomach, and he hated it. His mother was a Sacerdos, a priestess of the Goddess, and yet she had let her die. "I do not believe nor do I have any recollection of ever being blessed."

"It is said that when one favoured by the Goddess does a deed of great courage, the Goddess Spera, touched by this great act might come down upon the person and bestow upon him or her new life and power." Arthur said, oblivious or maybe plainly ignoring that long face Alfred was trying but failing to supress. "Those blessed by the Goddess are said to be much more sensitive to magic, and have eyes tainted with silver."

"Maybe you did but just couldn't remember." He added, with an apologetic smile at Alfred who forced a slight lopsided smile in return as he unwillingly gave him another twirl.

Of course the Goddess Spera was the almighty Goddess, and he respected her for the entrustment of the Astral Crystals. But that did not meant he liked her. Father had often told him not to blame the Goddess for what happened, but how could he not. The Goddess was said to give favour to her priestesses, protecting them from harm, but still his Mother had died, and the almighty Goddess had chosen to do nothing.

All he could remember of his mother was that warm smile and that soft embrace she would give him whenever he was feeling down. But even now all those memories of her that he so desperately wanted to hold onto were fading. He couldn't even remember his mother's face anymore, except through the few photos he had of her when she was still alive.

The dance ended soon after much to Alfred's relief. Bowing to Alfred who returned the gesture in kind, Arthur walked off regally back up the stairs towards the crowd, his blue long coat flowing along the motion as he made his way seamlessly between guests with a wayward glance back at Alfred before disappearing into the crowd of people.

Alfred watched as Arthur disappeared into the crowd before turning to the pond, looking down at his reflection on the water. "As if the Goddess would bless someone like me. Even if she did, she might have decided to leave a curse as well." He muttered, gripping his left arm tightly where the corruption was, squeezing it.

The rest of the evening went by just as Alfred had expected. He joined Antonio by the bar for a few drinks before finally sulkily entered back into the crowd of people who were eager to talk to him despite his apparent sour state of mind. He had wanted to reconcile with Arthur again, but every time he saw him standing here with that inviting smile on his face, he was held back by some guest who wouldn't stop yapping about some event that happened to them that Alfred had minimal interest in, or to ask him silly questions. All the while the King watching his every movement.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity to him, the ball ended. Alfred collapsed onto the soft armchair in his spare room while pulling off his red silk tie, throwing it onto the floor. He felt as exhausted as when he had just finished that sparring session earlier that afternoon.

Closing his tired eyes, Alfred felt himself already slipping off into a deep slumber when the sound of the door opening forced him to snap them open. Pushing himself up, Alfred turned groggily to see Francis standing by the doorway with a huge smile on his face.

"Great job with that dance little brother." Francis smirked as he swung himself down onto an armchair next to Alfred. "I can't believe you of all people manage to invite the prince." He continued on, punching Alfred on the shoulder painfully with a laugh.

"What prince?" Alfred asked with a frown, rubbing his sore shoulder puzzled and slightly annoyed.

"Come on, don't act dumb." Francis said, tweaking Alfred on the forehead. "That handsome guy you were dancing with, with that blue long coat of his. What was his name again? Arthur Kirkland, if I remember correctly."

It took Alfred a good five seconds before it hit him. No wonder his name sounded so familiar. He had been dancing with the prince of Oblitus and he didn't even realize it, not even they were the obvious centre of attention. Moreover, Father had told them to be on a look out for him during the ball at breakfast.

And to make matters worse, he had been a little rude to him during the dance. Yes it was partly Arthur's fault for making him uneasy with the mention of the Goddess, but still he should have contained his emotions a little better. Alfred felt like the greatest idiot in the world. Clasping his face in his hands with a groan, Alfred could hear his brother laughing aloud at him.

"You didn't know! You were dancing with the prince and you didn't know! I can't believe it!" France roared in glee as Alfred held his head in his hands in pure embarrassment, hoping that his brother would quieten down and leave him to wallow in his shame.

"Who did you think it was?" Francis asked breathlessly while wiping away the tears from his eyes.

"Just some random official from Oblitus." Alfred muttered truthfully, his voice muffled by his hands.

"Well now you know. Oh and congratulations on being appointed to be the representative for the summit by the way." Francis grinned standing up, as Alfred looked up at his brother surprised.

"Father told me about it this afternoon. Believe me I was angry, but I'm glad that he chose you instead. Now you finally have some real responsibilities little bro." Francis said, shuffling his younger brother's hair furiously before heading to the door. "Oh and did you know that the Arthur is going to be travelling with you to Urbis? Seems like Lady Luck is by your side. Or maybe, it's fate. Alright, seeing how tired you are, I shall leave you to rest." Francis shuffled his brother's hair one more time before closing the door behind him.

Alfred sighed out loud as he leaned back down onto the armchair. He was surprised yet glad that Francis was fine with him going to Urbis. It had him wondering what was with that cold look he got from his brother earlier on during the ball, but that didn't seem like much to Alfred. Maybe Francis was just having a bad mood at that time.

Now he wished more than anything that he could stay put. It made sense that Arthur would be going for conference in Urbis, though he wished otherwise. He just hoped that he had not strained their relationship with how his first meeting with him went. He wanted to forget all about the ball, especially the things that Arthur had said. But his words kept repeating in his head.

Alfred refused to believe in the idea that the Goddess might have blessed him but there really was nobody else with silver tinted eyes like him. Moreover the photos of him when he was a lot younger, when his mother was still alive, all depicted that he had deep piercing blue eyes.

At least with the short amount of time left till the departure to Urbis, he'll be kept busy with the studying of all the documents waiting for him in his study. Ivan would most likely be working him overtime in training, in case of some unforeseen circumstance where he had to protect himself, or maybe just because Ivan wanted to. He had to make sure that everything was in order and preparations were made before leaving as well. Closing his eyes to try and sooth his already dead tired mind, Alfred found himself drifting off to sleep once again. This time nobody came and bothered him.


	6. Chapter 05

Disclaimer: Don't own Hetalia.

Me: Any A/N?

Authoress: hmmm...

Me: Pls reply to Anne tyvm.

Authoress: hmmm... (for the next 5 mins -.-)  
Should i go for the OMGGGG THANK YOUUU -RUNS AND HUG- or the thank you so much for your comment! Much more interesting stuff will be happening in the future so you can count on it!

Me: U better come up with one or I'll copy and paste the whole thing.

Conclusion: she opted for -hides in a corner-

A/N: In behalf I thank those who followed/& faved this and Anne's who has reviewed. And sorry for the late update.

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Chapter 05

Alfred was glad that there was only to be a small dinner party instead of an all-out ball on the night before they were to leave for Urbis. He doubted that he could last through an entire ball again and be up early in the morning for the trip. He had spent the entire morning sleeping after that ball, only finally truly waking up in the afternoon when Ivan had decided to pour freezing cold water on him again.

Only those leaving for Urbis had been invited for the dinner, to allow both parties to get to know each other a little better before heading off at first light tomorrow. Standing idly beside his Father who stood calmly by the head of the long polished marble table, Alfred watched as Arthur in his royal blue suit calmly entered the dining hall with his three travelling companions close behind.

Walking up to them with his companions in toll, Arthur stopped about an arm's length away from the King as he formally introduced Alfred to him, "Prince Arthur, thank you for joining us tonight. I hope you remember my youngest son, Alfred."

"Of course, Your Majesty. I thank you for a wonderful dance Alfred." He smiled, turning to Alfred with his hand slightly raised as Alfred relieved by his words, hoping he meant it, took his hand gently and shook it.

Releasing his hand slowly, Alfred shifted slightly to his right, allowing the three behind him to be seen. "These are my companions, Antonio Fernandez Carriedo," he introduced, as Antonio took a step forward, tilting his head slightly and nodded towards Arthur who merely smiled and nodded back.

"Wang Yao."

"It is a pleasure to meet you aru." Yao said stepping forward confidently, putting his hands together and bowed.

"The pleasure is mine." He replied, bowing with the smile still on his face.

"And Ivan Braginski." Alfred finished as Ivan merely stood there and smiled, while Arthur a little crept out by the innocently smiling man returned the greeting with a bow.

Turning back to face him, Alfred waited politely for Arthur as he shifted slightly, allowing his three companions to be seen clearly as he introduced them.

"This is Ludwig." He said, as a tall well-build man with blond hair swept back to his hairline and blue eyes took a small step forward and bowed.

"It is my honor to be here, Your Majesty, Your Highness." He said with a serious expression on his face as both Alfred and King Roderich returned the greeting.

"His fiancé Feliciano Vargas." As Arthur turned to look at a man with short brown hair that had a lock of curled hair at the left side of his head. Said man's brown eyes were currently glancing around the dining hall, completely distracted by his surroundings.

Ludwig quickly nudged him, hissing softly. "Feli!"

Feli turned to look at him, head tilted in question. "Ve~? Ah!" he flustered, realizing that everybody was looking at him. "I'm sorry. It's nice to meet you! I'm Feliciano! Please call me Feli!" He smiled cheerfully, as Ludwig sighed softly at his fiancé.

That was when Alfred noticed the simple silver band on both Ludwig and Feli's fingers, making him smile inside. It is always nice to see two people happy and in love with each other, and it somehow made Alfred think of his Mother and Father together before she died, even though he couldn't remember how it exactly was, but knew deep down that they were truly happy together.

"And Honda Kiku." He finished as a slim man with black hair and dark brown eyes bowed down low, at a 90degrees angle. "How do you do. It is an honor to meet your acquaintance."

Alfred heard a small surprised gasp behind him, and out of the corner of his eye, he could see Yao trying to hide what seemed like an ecstatic grin on his face. Alfred guessed that Yao knew the calm looking man standing before them. With that fervent look on Yao's face, Kiku might be the person he was always talking about. Yao had often stated that his family had been an unrelated branch family of a prestigious family till around ten years ago. And how he wished to once again meet the son of the head family whom he claimed to be very close to.

With the introductions taken care of, Alfred, glad that the more formal part of the dinner has been taken care of, walked to the opposite side of the table followed closely by his three companions and took their seats while the King sat down at the head of the table while Arthur took his seat on his left with Alfred on the opposite side of the table, on his right.

Dinner went by fairly quickly, with small talk going on between them. Alfred was thankful that his Father was present to balance out whatever tension or nervousness there was between the two groups, especially with Ivan's constant child-like innocent looking smile that could make grown man have a nervous breakdown and cry. It had happened before to a few of the new batch of soldiers that Ivan had suddenly asked to train a few years ago. Nobody dared to reject him, and the recruits had practically gone through hell. The whole situation was not pretty sight. Moreover, he could still feel Arthur's presence digging at him. He was constantly glancing at his eyes, fixing on them whenever he thought he wasn't looking.

Arthur was probably still curious about them, Alfred guessed as he smiled at him when he glanced over once more, making Arthur look back down at his food quickly. But he was restraining himself from asking him about it in depth, especially in front of so many people, even though almost everybody in the room knew him personally.

Even if he did ask, which Alfred now didn't really mind even though the Goddess was still a sore subject to him, he doubted that he would be able to answer any of his questions. He himself really didn't know why his eyes were tinted with silver, but his father might have some answers. Though Alfred was sure that his father wouldn't be sharing any of the answers with them.

At long last it ended. The King stood up, followed by the rest with their wine glasses in their hands.

King Roderich lifted his half-filled glass slightly while waiting patiently for everyone's attention, then composedly said, "I wish you godspeed on your journey to Urbis. May the Goddess and Astral Crystals guide and protect you."

Handshakes were given as Arthur and his three companions left the dining hall. Alfred couldn't help but give out a sigh of relieve and smiled as Ludwig closed the door behind him. He still couldn't quite put his finger on the familiar feeling he felt from Arthur during the ball and throughout the dinner. It still rattled him slightly, but it felt less edgy and unknown now, even a little warm and familiar.

"Alfred, could you give me some time with your companions? I wish to speak to them privately." Kind Roderich said softly, looking down at the glass on his hand as he spun it around slowly in his fingers, the red liquid within lapping against the glass from the movement.

Alfred turned to face him, puzzled and curious at his words. His Father normally spoke freely to them even when Alfred was around. Even the three of them were baffled that the King wanted to speak to them privately. Though Ivan as usual just smiled at Alfred when he glanced at his direction.

"Of course Father." Alfred answered slowly, before making his way to the door. "Have a good night."

Looking back at his Father who merely glanced up at him as Alfred gave him a slight smile as he closed the door, Alfred stood outside the dining hall, leaning against the wall waiting for the rest. He was hoping to catch the conversation, but he couldn't make out anything that was said inside the long hall.

Unconsciously rubbing the edge where the corruption ended, Alfred waited impatiently for a few long minutes before the door finally opened. Pushing himself off the wall, Alfred noted the now slumped look on Yao face as they walked out and closed the door behind them.

"What happened?" he asked as Antonio looked at him with a straight face.

"Nothing much. Just His Majesty telling us to keep an eye on you." Antonio waved off.

"Come on." Yao interrupted before Alfred could ask for more details. "We have a long day tomorrow. Best to get a good night's rest aru."

Pressing his lips into a thin frown, Alfred narrowed his eyes as Ivan and Yao headed pass him, while Antonio flashed a grin at Alfred, patting him on the back before heading down the hallway as well.

"Hey come on, tell me what happened please?" Alfred called out as the three of them flat out ignored him.

Finally with an exasperated sigh, Alfred too headed down to his room, knowing that his friends would not spill the beans so easily. Moreover King Roderich had asked to speak to them without Alfred's presence. It gnawed on his curiosity, but he knew deep down that there was a reason for every single action his father did.

Reaching his room, Alfred now tired after the long dinner opened the door while pulling his red velvet tie off to find his brother lying on the couch reading a book while waiting for him. Francis immediately closed the book with a thud as Alfred entered the room, closing the door behind him while throwing his tie onto the armchair diagonally in front of the door.

"How was the dinner little bro?" Francis asked, shifting himself with a slight grunt to sit up straight as he smiled widely, looking at Alfred.

"It went well, all things considered." Alfred answered, taking off the black dinner jacket he was wearing and placing it on the armchair as well. "May I know what you're doing here so late brother?"

"Isn't it obvious? I'm here to see you off." Francis said as Alfred looked at him puzzled.

"I am to leave tomorrow morning, not tonight." He reminded as Francis laughed at his little brother's innocent look of bewilderment on his face.

"I have something on tomorrow morning little brother, so I'm saying goodbye now."

Getting up from the sofa, Francis went over to where Alfred stood and raised his hand high before landing it down onto his little brother's head, causing Alfred to winch and buckle slightly from the force, his glasses almost falling off once again.

"Don't worry about home alright? I'll make sure everything is safe and well for when you come back." He continued, ruffling Alfred's hair vigorously.

"A-alright Francis. I almost forgot, but did you manage to find anything about the group under the bridge?" Alfred asked shakily from the force of his brother's hand on his head.

Stopping his painful ruffles, Francis still holding onto Alfred's head merely replied after a slight hesitation with a smirk, "Didn't I tell you to call me big bro? But I couldn't get much. From what I could gather, it was just a bunch of kids trying to have some fun vandalizing royal property."

Alfred hated the smirk on his brother's face more than usual. Francis normally had that look on his face whenever he knew that he was going to win or get away with something. Or when he had set a trap and was waiting for his little brother to fall prey to, which happened often when they were younger, though often times he failed in his deed. But this time, the smirk felt really wrong, as if his dear brother was hiding a dangerous secret from him. Moreover he had hesitated before answering, setting off alarms in Alfred's head warning him that something was wrong.

Pushing aside the nagging feeling and concluding it as plain teasing for now, Alfred nodded in acceptance as Francis finally let go of his head, the smirk on his face now replaced with one of his usual smiles.

"Well then, I'll let you rest little bro. Have fun on your trip to Urbis with Ar-thur." Francis said, purposefully saying his name in a singsong manner as he did a small spin towards the door. "But seriously be careful and come back safe alright? I wouldn't want anything to happen to my dearest little brother."

"I will Francis." Alfred replied while adjusting his glasses back up, grinning at his older brother's antics though he didn't really like where he was going with them, as Francis flashed a grin back at him before leaving the room closing the door behind him.

The following morning Alfred woke up earlier than usual. He had somewhere he had to go first before assembling for the trip at the break of dawn. Leaving his room silently all freshened up as Kuma licked him hand as a form of goodbye, Alfred softly went down the dark shadowy hallway alone towards the back of the mansion.

Instead of heading straight down towards the patio like he always did, Alfred turned right, and soon after a series of small turns, he was out in the cool moonlit air. Closing the tall wooden door softly behind him, Alfred turned to face the small sanctuary standing humbly at the end of the smooth marble tiled walkway.

With the soft moonlight shining on his face, Alfred took a deep breath of dew-covered grass and wisteria flowers before slowly soundlessly making his way towards the alabaster marble stone walled sanctuary. Walking towards its opened doors Alfred felt strangely calm, as if this holy ground where small shards of Astral Crystals had been found, was welcoming him. For this sanctuary that was built to dedicate the Goddess to welcome him, Arthur might be right, maybe he was blessed.

Alfred however, felt a tingling sense of unease and hate as well. A small part of him was shouting that he shouldn't be here, that he should not only leave, but burn down the sanctuary as well. Alfred could guess where the hate was coming from as he took a seat on the front marble bench inside the sanctuary near the middle, facing the open circular patch of grass. A small shard of Astral Crystal lay in a pool of crystal clear water right in the center of the patch of delicate green grass as moon light shone down upon it from the opening of the roof, making the water as well as the shard sparkle enchantingly beautiful.

His Mother had been the Sacerdos, here, in this sanctuary dedicated to the Goddess who had failed, or maybe refused to save her. Every little detail in this small sanctuary reminded Alfred of his Mother and how he missed her dearly. Her sparkling emerald green eyes that held so much warmth and love, and those beautiful small little white flowers she would always have on her long light brown hair that gave off that nice soft scent which Alfred loved. His Mother had spent so much of her time here, with the Goddess who had let her die.

He guessed that that was the reason for his hate to be there, a constant nagging from within, that his mother died. No miracles. He would never find his mother here. Ever again. But no matter how much that small nagging voice inside of him screamed at him to erase this place, burn it down to ashes, he would never in his life ever dream of harming even one strand of grass in that circular patch surrounded by the alabaster floor.

He had made a crack on the wall of the sanctuary when he was younger though, as Alfred turned to look at the small crack line on the wall on his left with a sad smile. It happened shortly after he had learnt that his Mother had died. With all those anger and sorrow within him finally directed at the Goddess, he came here shouting and screaming, and in the process lost himself to the mindless boiling rage, and managed to make a crack on the solid marble wall before his father managed to contain and quell the burning rage inside him.

Looking back at the small pool where the shard of Astral Crystal lay, Alfred felt his mind wonder off to happier times of when his Mother was still alive from the serenity of the place, a soft warm feeling of sadness as well as joy spreading from within, when a small cough jolted him back to reality. Turning around to the location where the sound came from, Alfred saw his Father standing by the entrance looking at him.

"Mind if I join you?" King Roderich asked as Alfred stood up and shook his head in response.

"I had expected to find you here." He continued as he strolled towards Alfred and took a sit beside him as his son sat down as well. "You always came here whenever you were feeling sad or unsure of yourself."

Alfred sat solemnly beside his Father, quietly observing the sparkling water as King Roderich glanced at his son before following his gaze to the small crystal clear pool. "There's nothing to worry about. Yes unforeseen situations might occur, but Ivan, Yao and even Antonio would be there to support you."

Alfred couldn't help but smile at the mention of his three friends. They had been with him for a long time, and had been through a lot together, thick and thin. But that wasn't the reason he was here in this sanctuary. Yes he was nervous and slightly worried about leaving Sanctus after so long, but that wasn't the main reason.

Shifting slightly with his head lowered, Alfred fished the pendant from under his shirt, his dog tag getting pulled out in the process, but left hanging, as Alfred looked at the pendant with clear loss and sadness in his eyes. His Father looked at him holding the pendant on the palm of his right hand silently as well, both thinking back at the origins of the pendant.

The pendant was a keepsake of Alfred's Mother, King Roderich's wife. She had always worn it around her neck and took great care of it, often stating jokingly that it was her next most important treasure after her husband and two sons. King Roderich had given it to Alfred after the incident at the sanctuary, and Alfred was deeply thankful for it. It meant a lot to him, having the one most important keepsake of his Mother close to him constantly.

Letting it go, Alfred sighed softly before looking back up, clutching his left arm tightly.

"It's been aching daily ever since that morning. I didn't notice it at first, it started out as a mere itch but now it constantly feels as if something is gnawing at the edge almost painfully, and it seems to be actually growing slowly, spreading. I'm afraid that this corruption, whatever it is, might kill me."

King Roderich grew silent for a minute his eyes down at the pendant before looking up at Alfred straight in the eyes, as the first cracks of sunlight shone down on the pool making its light sparkle across the corners of the sanctuary as well his Father's face. "You have my blood, and as long as you carry my name, the name of our nation, never bow out of what you began. Carry your head high."

Standing up, King Roderich placed his hand on Alfred's shoulder and squeezed. He looked down at his son with a smile so rare, "I'll see you when you get back."


	7. Chapter 06

Disclaimer: Don't own Hetalia.

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Chapter 06

Looking around absent-mindedly Alfred leaned on the side of the car while munching on his burger. He noticed Arthur, in his white dress shirt, coupled with a royal blue coat with long navy blue pants tucked into his riding boots, standing a few feet away from him looking out at the plains with his gaze distant.

He seemed distracted; holding his barely drunk tea in his hand close to his lips. Alfred had no idea how Arthur whipped out a teacup, much less have the time to brew the tea, but that wasn't the main problem at hand. Following his gaze, Alfred looked out to the vast beautiful rolling green hills and plains surrounding the capital, a guess turning into a plan in his head.

Turning to the man who was busy packing up beside him, Alfred asked. "Yao, how long does it take to reach Urbis?"

"If we were to keep up the pace, we would be there around five days' time, with another four days to rest before the summit begins aru." Wang Yao answered, glancing suspiciously at his charge, knowing that he wouldn't like what was to come next.

"Since we have time, it'll be fine if we take it slow and enjoy the sights right? We can reach there one or two days behind schedule. That is if there are no objections, not like anybody would object a hero!" Alfred chuckled as Arthur turned to look at him, a brow raised, but those emerald eyes seemingly sparkling at his words.

Antonio smiled and Feli cheered, clearly excited at the prospect. Ivan had a smile on but his eyes seemed to reflect a frown.

Ludwig however, was clearly against the idea.

"If I may, we should stick to schedule." He started, turning around to face them. "The schedule was created for a reason, and thus should be followed."

"If the prince wishes to, as well, I see no reason for a small change in pace. And we haven't been around this region for some time. It would be good to take in the sights and learn about any changes while we can." Kiku defended, as Ludwig now turned to look at Arthur, a plea in his eyes.

"I-it would be a good opportunity to stretch our legs. Sitting all day in a car cannot be healthy." Arthur concluded.

Ludwig sighed softly at his total defeat while Feli smiled and patted his fiancé on the back.

"Well, if that's what you want aru." Yao said with a sigh, "The Broken Lake is just a short distance from where we are aru. We could head there first since it is in the direction of Urbis."

The lake sat in the middle of a small valley, hidden right next to a forest clearing. The Broken Lake was named as such due to the fact that the bed right in the middle had naturally formed in such a way patches was visibly shallow, forming an illusion the lake was broken along the center. The jagged path was shallow enough to cross on foot from one end of the lake to the other. But people rarely did so, for it was too dangerous due to the sudden steep drop from shallow waters into the deeper waters. To add on, this lake was house to dangerous colossal sized creatures, the Monmoths.

Running towards the edge, Alfred watched with glee as all of them gasped at the sight before them. They had arrived just in time to see a Monmoth waddle close to the hidden path near the shore to try and grab a mouthful from a flock of long legged Skykarks that had been feeding on the shellfishes burrowed into the wet earth by the shallow waters.

The Skykarks had frantically flew off with their enormous pinkish grey leathery wings opened wide, their long necks twisted sideways looking down with their giant round eyes at the sickly green leathery back of the Monmoth, their sharp crackling calls piercing the air.

Arthur was looking up at the clear sky, eyes wide in wonder and slight worry for the Skykarks flying in circles as Alfred glanced over at the blond beside him with a small grin.

Wang Yao hovered beside Kiku with a wide smile on his face as Kiku listened silently with an expressionless look, but his head followed along Yao's fingers as the Chinese man pointed out and explained the various behaviors of the creatures they were seeing. Ivan stood at the back with a creepy smile on his face while chanting "kol kol kol", eyeing at the scene.

Everybody was absorbed with the astounding sight before them until Ludwig's voice jolted their attention.

"Feli!" Ludwig called out as he drew out his pistol from the shoulder holster hidden diagonally behind his crisp navy blue coat, aiming it as he ran forward, cursing.

Feli had unknowingly wandered pass the sign by the path, and was now right beside the towering Monmoth which had waited patiently with its mouth wide open, now coming down to envelope the brunet whole. The sight of thousands of sharp jagged teeth spiraling in its mouth stunned Feli in his spot. There was no way any of them could reach him in time. All they could do was watch in horror as the gaping circular mouth of the Monmoth came crashing down on a shrieking Feli, the impact sending water and soil all around the close vicinity.

Ludwig continued racing forward, mud splattered across his polished boots as he shouted his fiancé's name in despair. Nobody said a word as the water settled down to reveal a Monmoth whose mouth was partially covered with a white cloth. Feli sat on the muddy ground next to it holding a short pole no longer than his arm, with one end of the white cloth sown onto the top half of it.

"Ahh… ahh…!" Feli screamed, sitting in the ankle deep water whacking the stunned Monmoth on its huge ugly head with the end of his flag.

"Feli get up! Hurry!" Ludwig yelled for his fiancé, aiming his pistol straight at the small beady eye of the Monmoth.

"L-Ludwig! S-save me!" Feli cried, tears in his eyes as he scrambled to his feet, his face covered in mud.

The Monmoth upon noticing that its prey was escaping reared its head back up with a speed that did not match its bulky size, the white cloth on its mouth sliding off to flutter behind Feli. With a deep reverberating growl, it launched at Feli again, this time its thick long neck swooping down from the direction which Feli was frantically running to. Seeing its actions, Ludwig fired his pistol, his aim true as the bullet pierced into the small soft eye of the Monmoth.

The Monmoth staggered, hurt from the wound Ludwig caused, but not enough to stop the creature. However it did steer the creature a tad off target as it swooped down towards Feli's running figure.

Feli paused, looking up at what seemed like his impending death. But as the giant head was about to reach him, Feli merely waved his flag across its face, side stepping as the white cloth landed onto the Monmoth's enormous head and covered its eyes, before quickly flipping it off with a sweeping movement with the pole. The movement was small and seemed insignificant, but it did its work. Its eyes followed the white flag. The Monmoth's head turned a little more just as Feli dived away in the opposite direction, its body fell right beside Feli, missing him by mere inches.

Sitting, he breathed heavily as he tilted his head to his side, watching the head of the Monmoth crashing down into the lake from the corner of his eyes. With a smooth sweeping motion, he flipped the flag back up, before turning to face the stunned group, crying as he fell into Ludwig's open arms.

"Are you ok? Did you get hurt anywhere?" Ludwig asked, pestering all over Feli as he dragged him to the shore.

"Ludwig! I was so scared!" Feli brawled into his fiancé's uniform as Ludwig patted him softly on his head with an awkward look on his face.

"Erm I don't want to spoil the moment, but we have a huge problem." Alfred interrupted, drawing out his dagger on his right and a card on the left.

Everyone turned to face the direction Alfred was looking at, and stared straight into the face of the now fuming Monmoth. The Monmoth's working beady eye stared at the six of them as it raised its huge long powerful leg out from the water with such velocity and took a step towards them, sending tremors that shook the ground. Feli and Ludwig slightly shaken by the overwhelming force of the Monmoth's step, scampered to the rest who were pulling their weapons out. Every single one of them knew grimly that there was no way they could escape from the Monmoth now that it is angry. It would most likely overtake them before they could reach the car.

Standing diagonally in front of Alfred, Antonio extended his partisian, gripping it tight, eyeing the Monmoth tensely. Kiku who was a short distance beside him pulled out his katana that was hanging on his waist on top of his buttoned navy like royal blue uniform, while Yao got into his fighting stance in front of him like a shield, right beside Antonio. That was also when Alfred noticed that Arthur had not drawn out his weapon. He didn't even seem to have a weapon on him at all.

Alfred was about take a step towards him, when Arthur raised his right hand with the index and middle finger out in front of himself. Murmuring softy under his breath, Arthur started drawing on the air in front of him, a glowing orange line appearing in the air with each stroke of his fingers. And within a few seconds, a lightly glowing orange magic circle floated in the air in front of him.

The intricate glowing magic circle was mesmerizing. A five-pointed star shone out from the middle, as beautiful runes drawn by Arthur circled the edges revolving slowly. Alfred unconsciously took a step towards the alluring magic circle, his fingers reaching out towards it, the dagger that was on his hand now gone.

Alfred's fingers were just inches away from the edge of the magic circle when Arthur grabbed his hand harshly, pulling him away while placing his right palm in the middle of the circle, drawing a cutlass from it as the magic circle dissipated as the tip of the cutlass emerged.

"Are you an idiot?! What do you think you're doing?" Arthur shouted infuriatedly, letting go of Alfred's hand with a fling. "Even after so long you're still the same..." he grumbled softly to himself.

Alfred didn't even seem to notice that he had just been reprimanded. "That was amazing! How did you do that?" he asked excitedly, the approaching Monmoth forgotten.

"T-that's nothing really," Arthur replied blushing slightly as he looked away from Alfred's sparking eyes. "We have bigger problems to handle right now. What's the plan?" He quickly added, looking back up at the Monmoth.

"Ahahaha that's easy. Ivan will have the important job of being my backup. Yao's job will be my backup. Antonio's job will also be my backup. Everybody else will be my backup seeing that I'm the hero!"" Alfred declared with a huge smile on his face as he drew his dagger out again.

"Huh?! What kind of idiotic plan is that?" Arthur retort, clearly angry at how Alfred as handling the situation.

"Well if you have a better idea then say it." Alfred shot back at the man beside him, the both of them glaring at each other.

"This is really not the time to fight aru!" Yao called out as the Monmoth raised its leg and slammed it down hard into the floor, causing both Alfred and Arthur who were distracted with each other to fall to the ground from the shockwave.

"A hero shall not be interrupted in the middle of his speech!" Alfred protested as both he and Arthur scrambled to their feet, the foot of the Monmoth pounding down onto the ground they were at just seconds ago.

Arthur looked up at the colossal Monmoth as it turned back to face them. "This is bad…" he muttered, as Alfred patted his back rather painfully, causing him to jerk forward, while going "Don't worry! The hero is here to save the day!"

"You're still going on about that, you bloody idiot?" Arthur grumbled turning to face Alfred.

Just then a breeze went pass as Ivan shot pass them. He jumped up towards the leg of the Monmoth, stabbing his cane deep into its flesh, as he fell. The Monmoth roared in agony as Ivan twisted himself and jumped onto his cane with cat like balance and agility. One hand holding onto the handle while the other was placed onto the rough skin of the Monmoth, Ivan jump once again, ripping his cane out while using his other hand to push him towards the back of the Monmoth as it roared in anger.

Laughing cheerily, Ivan ran up it's back towards the neck. Just as he was about to deal the final blow by stabbing the Monmoth's head, the Monmoth swung its head hard, causing Ivan to lose his balance on the its neck, falling down onto the ground below.

"Ah." They heard him say, as Ivan looked up just as the Monmoth's open jaws slammed down on him.

"IVAN!" Yao cried out desperately, taking a few steps towards the gigantic creature.

There was a moment of silence, only the gurgling sound of the Monmoth throat could be heard until a sweet voice suddenly said as the dust slowly settled.

" I'm here, on the ground. "Ivan knelt on one knee, both hands gripping onto his cane just above his head, keeping the heavy Monmoth's head away.

Even though Ivan was clearly shaking from the effort, his face still held a sweet innocent smile. But his eyes were wide open, cold and merciless. His killing intent seemed to slip out of him, causing shivers down all seven of their spines. Even the Monmoth stopped in its track, blinking its beady eye, confused instead of pressing down even harder.

Yao exhaled in relieve, his once tense shoulders relaxed. "Hold on! I'm coming aru!"

He sped towards the Monmoth, as Antonio snapped out of his daze and followed along, swinging his partisan back picking up speed along with Alfred who too ran forward while throwing a card towards it. Arthur who was still slightly stunned for a moment started moving as well, while Kiku followed behind.

Alfred warped towards the injured leg of the Monmoth, using the momentum of his fall to slice down across its huge leg, blood oozing out from the long deep wound he created. The Monmoth growled in pain, but that wasn't enough to make it release its hold. Instead, it pushed down harder onto Ivan, determined to swallow the man, as Ivan gritted his teeth, the smile still on his face as he pushed back harder against the creature.

The sound of gunfire was heard, as Ludwig shot at the open wound that Alfred created as Feli continued to cry while waving his white flag at the undamaged eye. The Monmoth staggered a little from the sudden sharp pain, its injured leg buckling. Before it could recover, a battle cry was heard as Antonio pulled back his partisan before thrusting it into the Monmoth's thick leathery skin, using his speed as a boost. Yao followed up with a punch that held such velocity that a small shockwave could be seen rippling across its rough hard skin. Kiku stepped up beside him, swinging his katana down and sliced the flesh wide open, blood gushing out.

Still it wasn't enough to make the Monmoth release its grip. What's worst was that with its now useless leg, its entire weight was now pressing down on Ivan. Alfred's mind was racing. The Monmoth was already critically injured and dying, but Ivan was still pinned underneath. They needed an impact with enough force to knock it over.

Just then a fireball flew pass their head, exploding on the Monmoth's side. Alfred turned sharply, a surprised look on his face to see Arthur standing a few feet away with a glowing reddish orange magic circle in front of him, mumbling with his eyes closed. Arthur snapped them open, his thick brows furrowed as he glanced at Alfred for a second. No time to hesitate, Alfred decided.

Alfred threw a card up towards the Monmoth's side just as another fireball went flying. Flipping another card, this time red and covered in bright glowing runes, he threw it flying even faster towards the first. As the two cards came in contact with the fireball, they glowed bright red like a flame for a second, before suddenly vanishing. The next moment caused everybody to look up as a deafening boom radiated across the hills. A huge blast of fire exploded causing the Monmoth to cry out in pain, releasing its hold on Ivan as it started to lean to the other side from the impact of the wavefront.

It was Ivan's idea to store magic in cards, it would be of great help when he needed the extra boost in raw energy. He looked proudly at the collapsed Monmoth, the explosion from his card and Arthur's fireball had amplified a great deal. But… Alfred grimaced at the thought that he'd have to start pouring magic to prepare another card.

Feeling the pressure on him leaving, Ivan swiped his cane down, before bringing it straight up painfully jabbing deep onto the side of the Monmoth's mouth, blood trickling down the side of the cane as Ivan pushed it deeper in with a chuckle. He stood back on onto his feet shakily before swinging his cane out, ripping the side of the Monmoth's mouth, its long tongue flying out to land a few feet away. Yao quickly rushed to Ivan's aid, half dragging him away as Ivan's legs buckled from the effort of pushing against the Monmoth for so long. Alfred then warped to the Monmoth's head throwing a card into its gaping broken mouth. The Monmoth's pained death cry was cut short, as the card in its mouth exploded while Alfred rolled out away from the blast.

"See? Just like I said. The hero would save the day!" Alfred laughed loudly, standing up with his hands on his hips as the Monmoth fell down onto the floor dead.

Ivan smiled as he tried to stand up again before Yao pushed him back down onto the floor.

"Sit down at rest aru! You may be strong but the Monmoth is one of the heaviest creatures in the world! Let your body rest!" He scolded, stomping off towards the car to get some first aid, but not before stopping by a Kiku who offered to help carry the supplies.

Alfred looked around for a moment to make sure that everybody was fine. Ivan was resting against a tree, his eyes closed while being tended by Yao. Antonio was sitting some distance away with his partisan resting on his lap, overlooking at the trio near the waters. Ludwig was swashing off the mud on him and moving on to Feli who was fussing worriedly over Kiku who was trying his best to convince the brunet he hadn't sustain any injury while wiping the blood off his uniform.

Alfred walked to the man standing some distance away as Arthur pushed his cutlass into the orange magic circle, the weapon disappearing into the circle before the circle itself faded off.

"That is so cool." Alfred chipped as he walked closer, causing Arthur to jump a little before blushing slightly at his words.

"Y-you're not bad yourself." Arthur turned his head away to look at the green hills before them.

"I guess we should be more careful with where we go to next. Not that there's anything to worry with the hero here!" Alfred laughed as he started to head back to the car where the rest were waiting.

Arthur glanced at Alfred with a thankful yet slightly embarrassed look in his eyes before following after him.


	8. Chapter 07

Disclaimer: Don't own Hetalia.

* * *

Chapter 07

After the quick rest, they soon got back onto the car and sped off, leaving the lake behind as the Skykarks now swooped down to feed on the still warm carcass of their once predator. When Alfred had Yao do a detour, both Yao and Ludwig had been expressly unhappy with it. But the next location they'd stopped by had unknowingly set everyone onto a better mood. The lake glistered golden, reflecting the hue of the yellow patched trees around it. They stepped out of the car as the wind came, rustling the tree as the yellow shades of the trees fluttered away from the tree. Feli's eyes glistered in surprise as he recognised the small yellow 'leaves' as birds as they flew around to meet in the middle and swirled, the enchanting spiralling dance in the air reflected on the surface of the water.

"You think this is nice? Wait till you go deeper." Alfred grinned as everyone around him gaped in wonder at the sight before them.

Kiku and Arthur glanced at the angry Chinese following slowly at the back of the group, awkwardly jerking back when Antonio patted Yao's shoulder in comfort. They went pass the sparkling lake towards the woods. It was not long before they reached a flight of stone stairs. They all climbed silently and felt the air getting cooler as they reached the top. Feli let his breath out as his eyes took in the long awaited view. Along the stairs they could make out that they were climbing a mountain but when they're finally up here, the pathway circling along the slope of the mountain they are on connected and circled the one right in front of them was a gorgeous view.

Soon, the path ended. But Alfred led on, they trekked their way up and across. Alfred chuckled as Feli went on about how beautiful this place was as he slipped a few times making everyone jump to his rescue. They joked about ghost, spirits and even cannibals appearing but none complaining about the fact that they had been walking for quite a while now. Some had guessed where this was and felt uncomfortable mentioning it while some, on the other end, was being too busy admiring the sights around them, as birds flew pass, breaking the soft light littering the lush green below their feet. Arthur could feel a slight change in the atmosphere as they headed up to whatever the dumb Alfred wanted to take them. There was a sense of power rippling through the air. He breathed in deep, savouring the fresh cool air, but there was something different in it. It left a slight taste, like someone had added a dash of-

"Salt!" Arthur turned as Feli shouted out in excitement behind him. "Ne ne Ludwig I smell salt! Are we near the sea?!"

"Come on, just a bit further and see for yourself!" Antonio smiled sheepishly instead when Ludwig shrugged in response. They slid carefully down towards the visible continued pathway that lead to an open cave.

"This is… Amazing." He murmured, feeling the pulse of pure energy as they made their way into the cave opening, a few ropes and stairs leading to openings at both their side.

"It's too soon to be amazed." Alfred smirked, walking towards a certain opening.

"Quick walk in and out alright, you don't want to get lost down there," Yao urged as Alfred hushed them onwards. Antonio took out a silver tube and unscrewed it, revealing a light tube. He took the lead, Alfred closely followed by Feli, Arthur and Ludwig entered the cave with Kiku, Ivan and lastly Yao lagging behind.

As they ventured in, Arthur summoned a few light orbs. He left some hovering near them and some out towards the space to have a clearer look. The crystals shimmered from the reflection, glittering in the dark. As they continued slowly on the cave seem to brighten and true to that Antonio kept his light source. Arthur followed on tensely and entered the bright section of the cave. Pure untainted magic poured out from within as Crystals, Astral Crystals littered every corner of the cave. Their light radiating out, illuminating the cave with multitudes of colours. White, red, green, blue, yellow, orange, purple, all the colours coming together in harmony, painting the walls of the cave in a vibrant display of wonder.

"Waa…" Feli's eyes twinkled.

Arthur breathed. It was breath taking, both in appearance and in power. Yao frowned, disliking where this is going. He butted in before Alfred could speak, "Let's go already!"

Ludwig wanted to shoot back but Arthur spoke, stopping him. "Yes, I believe we should go".

They slowly retreated, this time Yao and the others who were once at the back leading. Feli glanced at the glittering crystals and Arthur's magic orbs, smiling timidly in thanks when he caught Arthur looking at him.

Yao led them back to the entrance and was about to leave from the direction they came from, Alfred shouted a complain saying since they were here they should just see the other side and leave from the other side. Without waiting for a reply, Alfred led on. They emerged on a side overlooking the clear blue sea. The other side was a high wall with stairs. The warm sun shined down as birds cried overhead as waves lapped against the smooth rocks. Fishes swam blissfully underneath the currents, spreading out and hiding among the corals whenever a bird dived down, cutting the surface of the crystal clear waters, sending ripples in all directions. They could even see one of the many lands of Nullus past the stretch of water, just a short swim away.

Ivan seeing how distressed Yao is patted his back softly, "Since we're already here and they've already seen it, take it easy. Da?"

Yao smiled weakly back at him, then flumped his arms in the air in defeat, "Ahhhh! I don't care anymore aru!" Yao walked over to a nice patch of grass and sat there, crossing his arms but a smile on his face.

Feli seeing this joined Yao, "Yao-yao could you please tell me more about this place? You can just tell me what you can! It is just so beautiful!"

"Yao yao?" Yao blinked as Alfred laughed, "Yao yao~" Alfred taunted. To be expected Ivan followed suit, "Yao yao~ tell me~"

"Isn't it alright Yao yao-san," Japan sat beside him and smiled.

Yao's smile twitched in anger as Feli cluelessly celebrated a new friend's new nickname.

"YOU GUYS!"

It was only when they were leaving and Feli asked a simple question did Yao and Arthur explained this place. To summarise, both Sanctus and Nullus has been fighting over this place. Sanctus saying it's their land, and Nullus, in their waters.

"Understandable seeing the Astral Crystals in there." Arthur sighed.

"I see…but I really liked the crystals that looked like stars when we weren't that deep in." Feli slumped looking down at where the pathway ends, "It'll be nice to see the pathway be completed one day."

"Yes indeed."

The rest of day went pass without much trouble. After getting back to their car, Alfred constantly had Yao do some detours for sightseeing much to Yao's said disapproval. However Alfred could see Yao was having fun himself, introducing the creatures and fora enthusiastically, picking some herbs along the way. Even Ludwig had become silent and smiled gently at his fiancé's fuss. As night fell, after an unexpected dinner of pasta from Feli, courtesy of Arthur who had brought the ingredients out from his magic circle, the tired party having finally felt the tiredness of the battle and sight-seeing opted to spend the night sleeping in the car instead of setting up a camp.


	9. Chapter 08

Disclaimer: Don't own Hetalia.

* * *

Chapter 08

The next morning everybody woke up either softly grumbling or openly complaining about their backaches. Even though Alfred laughed and said that heroes don't get backaches, he rubbed his own back tenderly before stretching. A quick breakfast from Yao, everybody reluctantly got back into the car and sped off. They stopped near the edge of a small forest after picking up sounds of crashing water, deciding to walk in and through the trees that circled the area. Walking next to the clear waters glittering from the warm morning light, a trail of white fluffy creatures trailed behind them. However when Kiku turned around to observe them, they shrank to the ground and didn't move, their red eyes blinking occasionally. Yao picked up the palmed sized creature, the small short legs hanging in the air.

"They're harmless, very shy as well." Yao started introducing these creatures known as Parbys to the party. After a whole minute of no movement other than red eyes blinking, they decided to move on. Antonio led the way into the clearing. A dejected Feli looked down at the Parbys in his arms before stepping out of the forest when Yao explained further the Parbys was found in this area as well, earning a bright smile that made everyone smile as well.

They settled down under the shade of the biggest tree, small dots scattered around them, Yao still holding onto the Parbys from before, stroking its soft fur while Feli patted and played with his, giggling joyfully as Ludwig watched from the side. A small group followed Antonio and Kiku as they headed for those other trees with their sweet smelling fruits. Ivan on the other hand went around the trees alone. That was until a small Parbys turned its small head towards the large man, trailing after him. It was then when a horned creature appeared, its nostrils flaring as steam raised out from it, seemly charging towards Ivan. Only after the fact that Ivan was just about to dive in for the kill did a whole bunch of Parbys rushed in between them as Yao manage to frantically stop him, stating that it was a Paracote, an herbivore guarding its territory and possibly, the Parbys around.

With that, they went off their way again. Night fell soon after, with Yao finally grumbling softly to himself about how they had only covered half of what was expected while Ludwig fussed over the scheduled plan that had now gone down the drain as Feli skipped around humming cheerfully while preparing dinner once again.

Pasta two days in a row while camping outside wasn't something any of them expected or was looking forward to. But Feli's perfectly cooked pasta coupled with some of Antonio's home grown tomatoes which nobody knew how he brought along was just too heavenly to resist. Even Alfred who would rather eat burgers all day had to admit that it was a miracle, and was about to gulp down everything on his plate when he noticed something strange about Ivan. Ivan was happily eating his pasta as well, but there was something soft and white peeking out from his scarf.

"What's that white thing you got there?" He asked, stuffing his mouth full of pasta at the same time while swinging his fork to point at Ivan much to Arthur's who was just sitting beside him disgust.

"It's one to the Parbys." Ivan placed down his plate on his lap before pulling his scarf a little, urging the small white Parbys to jump out onto his shoulder, snuggling on his cheek as Ivan laughed. "It followed me when I was picking fruits. I picked it up for a while, but it head-butted me when I tried to put it back."

Everybody turned to look at the violet eyed man not knowing what to do as he took a small strain of spaghetti and gave it to the Parbys which enthusiastically nibbled on it, its soft white long ears twitching and swaying in delight. "That would explain why the Paracote was trying to attack you just now. They are very defensive when it comes to the Parbys around their territory. I'm surprised it allowed you to go off with one in the end aru. But I guess if it did then there's nothing else we can say about it. Just take care of it properly." With that, Yao continued eating with the rest continuing suite as Ivan too picked up his plate while feeling his new small companion bits and pieces as well.

With dinner out of the way, Ludwig and Feli took on the cleaning of dishes. Ludwig eyed Antonio, as the later handed Feli the other plates he collected, both smiling and talking about how well the tomatoes went with the pasta. His eyes narrowed slightly as Antonio patted Feli on the back, but none the less a small rare smile showed on Ludwig's normally serious looking face as the both laughed and chatted beside him.

"The stars are really pretty tonight." Yao smiled at Kiku as his seemly blank face quickly changed to one of surprise, before changing back to his usual blank expression as Yao sat beside him on the soft grass a good distance away from the now joyfully laughing Feli and Antonio.

Before Kiku could respond to Yao's sudden appearance, Yao taking Kiku's short moment of silence as consent, started pointing out the various constellations that painted the bright night sky, ignoring Arthur who was awkwardly sipping tea a stone throw away from Kiku. Kiku however, did not stop him, merely silently listening as Yao went on and on, his eyes actually following the other man's hand as Yao pointed out towards the stars above.

Just as Yao was about to explain another constellation, a head wearing a huge grin suddenly popped in from between Arthur and Kiku, causing Arthur to almost spit out his tea.

"What are you doing appearing like that?!" Arthur yelled as he tried to regain his lost gentlemanly composure.

"Ahahaha! A hero appears whenever and wherever he wishes!" With that, Alfred sat down on the grass as well, right beside a grumpy looking Arthur who just continued sipping whatever tea he had left in his teacup, as Yao seeing that it was nothing to be concerned about, continued on with his explanation of the constellation while Kiku continued to listen.

After a few seconds of stargazing, Alfred started glancing towards the emerald-eyed man. And as Arthur's thick eyebrows started to rise in question at the other's actions, Alfred blurt out, "When did you brew the tea? I've never seen you do it. And can you pull out anything from your magic circle? It's like some kind of eternity pocket."

"Just now and no."

"How?"

"I brewed it."

"What are you guys doing?" Ivan chipped in suddenly, his face carrying his usual smile as he hovered above the four with the small Parbys which he had affectionately named Krolik blinking its small red eyes on his shoulders, making Yao jump with a small yelp.

Alfred turned to the larger figure behind them, his face still holding a grin but seemly deadly serious at the same time. "Can't you see, we're looking for Alien Aircrafts."

"Alien Aircrafts?" Feli repeated dumbfounded.

"Also known as Unidentified Flying Objects, UFO." Arthur scowled, as he turned his head towards Alfred. "You bloody fool. There isn't something like that."

"How do you know it doesn't exist! And you sure know quite a lot about something that doesn't exist." Alfred accused.

"S-Shut up! It is exactly because it does not exist that I know about it, it's not like it's interesting or anything! You hear me?!"

"What are you still doing out here. Didn't I tell you to rest aru?" Yao cut in just before the two could start fighting again, standing up with a sigh.

"Ehh, but I don't want to…" Ivan pouted, violet eyes watching as Yao turned to look at him with an eyebrow raised.

"Stop being such a child, I know you strained yourself with the Monmoth."

"Yao yao…"

With that, Yao with another long sigh grabbed onto Ivan's hand and started pulling him along to the tent as Ivan merely pouted, allowing himself to be dragged along by the smaller man.

As Yao fussed over Ivan and tucked him in, Ludwig, Feli and Antonio finished up and joined the others stargazing. By the time Yao finally shrugged back, everybody was getting ready to leave.

"Everybody's going to sleep already? It's not that late yet aru. If we stay up for about an hour more we might be able to see some shooting stars, or even the constellations shifting." Yao persuaded, looking around him as everybody walked pass him towards the tents yawning.

"If that's the case you can take first lookout duty Yao." Alfred announced with a grin as he yawned out loud. "Thanks a lot dude!"

Yao's shoulders fell as the rest crawled into their tents for the night, leaving him standing alone in the dark with only the light of the campfire to brighten the place. "Suit yourselves." He huffed, walking back to the spot they were sitting a moment ago. "Watching the constellations shift on my own is so much better anyway. There won't be anyone to bother me when I take down notes aru." What he didn't know was that Kiku had been peeking out of his tent, watching the older man as he walked up the hill with a dejected look, before quietly retreating back in, softly closing the tent back up.

But throughout his whole two hours of sitting there keeping an eye out for any sign of trouble while admiring the stars, the constellations did not shift like he had expected them nto at all. Nor was there any shooting stars passing through the atmosphere. "Strange…" Yao muttered as he dejectedly went back to the tents and tried to wake Feli who instead continued to sleep as Ludwig woke up instead, taking over his fiancé's lookout duty, before Yao finally crawled into his tent and went to sleep.

A shuffling of sheets woke Antonio up, he blinked slowly to let his eyes adjust and pick up anything in the dark. He was about to go back to sleep until he saw the tent open, moonlight casting onto Ivan's face. The man seemed alert, his other hand on his cane. Antonio pushed himself up when he heard the rustling of the bushes as well. Ivan looked back and met Antonio's eyes before they both left the tent, to meet Kiku near the entrance.

"What is it?" Antonio whispered as he looked around trying to locate exactly where the sound was coming from.

Kiku pointed to a bush shuffling a distance away near the dying ambers of their campfire as Ivan took slow silent steps towards it, a wide smile starting to form on his face. The other two watched on, holding their breaths, as if afraid that the slightest whisper of a sound would send whatever it was hiding in the bush running.

Just as Ivan was halfway to the now dead campfire, the rustling from the within the bushes stopped. The air hung dead silent, the atmosphere around them suddenly tensed as nobody moved an inch, waiting to see what was to come next. That short moment felt like an eternity as all three stared intensely at the now silent seemly normal bush. Ivan's eyes narrowed as he placed his raised foot that was barely touching the ground below him onto the soft grass. And in a blink of an eye, he sprint towards the bush that was once again rustling as a figure clambered out and started running as swift as the wind away from them.

Ivan raced towards the scampering figure, his cane raised as a chuckle escaped his lips. Kiku and Antonio gave chase as well, drawing their weapons as they went. That was when Antonio noticed with the aid of the soft moonlight that the figure was not of some creature, but that of a child frantically running away from his or her chasers while carrying a small bag in hand. Antonio cried out to the child to stop, promising that they would not do anything. Kiku too seemed to have noticed as well, sheathing his katana back into its scabbard.

Only Ivan seemed to not have noticed the identity of the figure running away from them as he sped towards the child at full speed. And suddenly just as he was about to grab the child, Ivan came to an abrupt stop, his face smiling calmly and breathe still slow and steady as if he was on a leisurely stroll instead of chasing a child for more than a kilometre. Letting the child race down the field away from them.

"What happened? Why did you let the kid go?" Antonio grumbled, jogging up behind Ivan as Ivan bent down to pick a small bag off the ground.

"He dropped it." Ivan replied, turning towards both Kiku and Antonio, a cheery smile on his face. "He tried to steal the herbs Yao picked earlier on in the forest. I remembered him saying that they are really great cures for many aliments when prepared correctly. If not, they're fatal and would kill a person in the most painful way ever."

"Though I would have liked to see that." Ivan added, the cheery warm smile still on his face as Antonio shuddered and took a few steps back while Kiku tried to maintain his calm although a look of shocked bewilderment was clear on his face.

With that, Ivan squeezed pass the two and started skipping back to camp while humming a soft cheerful tune. Krolik peeking its head out from under his scarf, its soft white fur glittering in the moonlight as it turned its small head back to look that the two as they slowly followed Ivan along a small distance away.

Kiku relayed what happened to the rest in the morning wtih Antonio adding in quick comments in between while Ivan merely smile at a corner. And after a quick check that nothing was missing, though Yao was completely furious that someone had tried to steal his herbs, they packed up and went on their way.

"So did you get a clear look of the kid?" Yao ask as they sped to the next detour location that Alfred had decided to go.

Ivan looked up from petting Krolik who was snuggling up against him on his lap, and nodded at the man beside him. "He is most probably only around eight or nine, no more than eleven. Pretty rugged, clothes were torn in multiple places and a few wounds on the body. Most likely running away from somewhere or something."

Yao's brows furrowed in thought "He's too young to be able to survive out in the plains alone and have so little injuries. There's most likely a person or two with him. But who and what is he running away from? We should keep an eye out aru. It feels like trouble is brewing."

They decided though not at all willingly by Yao and Ludwig to spend the rest of the day relaxing by the Clarion River after Alfred promised that he would not drag the party around for any detours for the rest of the journey. The cool clear water splashed around as they sank their legs into the winding snake like river that cut through the Stygian Forest. Alfred sighed in content as his bare feet stepped on the smooth cool pebbles in the sparkling water, grinning at sight of the fishes swimming around his legs, curious of the stranger in their home. Until a splosh sound started sounding from around his legs as blur stabbed at the water.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Alfred jumped back, falling hard into the water as he looked up furiously at an innocently smiling Ivan who was still stabbing at where his feet was. "Are you that anxious to kill me? Not that anybody can kill a hero!"

"Catching fishes for lunch." Ivan brought up his cane to show three still weakly wiggling fishes stabbed straight through their body. "They make great fish stew."

"If you got three that's more enough to make the stew for everyone." Antonio cut in, standing awkwardly by the bank, holding another two more fishes in his hands. "Kiku's already gutting the other two we caught."

Ivan hummed cheerfully as he got out of the water, walking beside a slowly edging away Antonio as Krolik stared at him, while Ivan spun his cane around with the fishes still impaled on it. Alfred glared at the larger man as he stood up, his clothes soaking wet. But his anger has short lived when he noticed where everybody else's attention was.

"-he Stygian Forest is said to be hunted. They say that the souls of the wrongfully departed is drawn to the place, and once you enter you never leave. At least not whole aru."

Yao continued to explain, pointing to the visible features of the dark ashen forest while everyone else listened intently, even Ludwig who was actually eyeing the forest while Feli grabbed onto his sleeve, shivering from behind his fiancé, making whimpering noises with a look of fear on his face.

Alfred gulped as Yao continued on. "They say that even in the day, if you listen closely, you can hear or even see the souls of the dammed trapped within." He walked a few steps towards the sinister forest. "But of course nobody knows for sure if the forest is really hunted. Though it is true that those who came out were never the same."

"It'll be interesting if it was true да? It would be fun to meet a spirit." Ivan smiled brightly as Alfred's head jerked towards the direction of the forest sharply. Did he hear something? No it must have been his imagination.

Slivery-blue eyes focused closer on the forest, peering within as Alfred perked his ears up, listening for any movement from the dead silent forest. It had to be his imagination right? There's no way things like ghosts actually exist. Then he saw it. A slight movement from within the trees, a silhouette like that of a figure slowly making its way to the edge of the forest, faster and faster.

"Guahhhhhh!" he cried, falling down on his butt into the cool water again as a gush of howling wind blew out from within the forest. Alfred could feel his heart pounding against his chest. But what was worst was when he turned to look at the direction where the rest were. His face started turning bright red as everybody stared at him.

"What's wrong Al? You scared of a little wind?" Antonio snickered, laughing so hard that his eyes started tearing.

Alfred could feel his ears getting hotter as his face turned a bright shade of red. "I-I wasn't scared! The hero isn't afraid of anything!"

"Just admit that you were scared of the forest." Arthur sighed before turning back to sipping his cup of tea, ignoring the other as Alfred continued to shout excuses.

They stayed by the river, enjoying the setting sun while eating leftover fish stew from the morning after Arthur volunteered to cook, but only whipped up some dark looking matter instead which everybody else rejected wholeheartedly.

They were about to turn in for the night, with Alfred setting up tent as far away from the forest as he could when a loud scream resounded a distance away from where they were. Everybody immediately stopped whatever they were doing and turned towards the direction of the sound. They knew what it was even without looking.

Someone was screaming for help.

Me: White fur/hair, red eyes sounds familiar? That's all the ruspru u're gonna get. Hh.

A/N: Sorry for the late update, i'll try to whip up the chaps faster nxt time (don't hold your breath though).

Thanks for following/&fav and thanks Anne for reviewing. Al is funny isn't he? As expected from an awesome writer like me #slapped. Gotta thank Einnyth as well, without her I doubt this chap would even be completed so soon/properly. Tyvm~


	10. Chapter 09

Disclaimer: Don't own Hetalia.

A/N: Erm... thanks for the likes/fav and putting up with the slowness of the story. Promise things will get more interesting from the nxt chap onwards, though it might take some time but it will be out for sure. And Kiku ignoring Yao was funny, I thought it was funny.

Me: Ure gonna get slapped by a sock.

Authoress: I know lol. But it was funny. I thought it was funny.

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Chapter 09

Alfred was the first to jump to his feet, shouting something along the lines of 'don't worry the hero is coming' as he sped towards the screams. Antonio followed suit, worried about the scream they heard, which clearly belonged to a child. While Arthur and the rest trailed behind them grimly, alert and ready for the impending battle ahead. It was getting dark, but all of them could see what was happening before their eyes. A small family of four was being attacked by a horde of Disons.

The huge creatures circled at the family. Their huge mouths wide open in a snarl, rows of wide flat teeth snapping in excitement at the thought of crushing their prey straight on and breaking off limps or parts of their body while they were still alive. The biggest of the Disons stood still, clawing the ground with its sharp hoofs as the rest went on circling, observing their prey. Its tiny nostrils flared as it grunted, eyeing the shaking family with its round brownish black eyes. It charged at the family again, grunting loudly as it went, and quickly changed directions when its teeth snapped at the empty air, trying to impale the poor family with the two long jagged horns on its head.

Alfred knew that even with their bulky size, the creatures were fast and agile. But he couldn't believe his eyes when the alpha Dison leapt off the ground, intent on crushing the boy who had fallen on the ground as his panicked father tried to pull him up.

Alfred instinctively threw a card towards the alpha falling from mid-air as spittle sprayed out of its mouth in hunger. The runes on the card glowed for a second before the card burst into flames right beside the alpha. Alfred almost tripped and was picking himself back up when mid run, he winced as a scream from the boy resounded across the hills as the alpha landed on the ground. There was too little stored magic in the card he thrown, the blast wasn't strong enough to throw the alpha off course.

"That's why I hate having to pour magic into preparing my ace cards." Alfred muttered with an irritated yet furious look on his face.

"Don't worry, just back me up!" Antonio called out as he sped pass Alfred with a look of fierce determination in his eyes.

Antonio slid down towards the alpha, raising his partisan just in time as the alpha reared on its hind legs and slammed down once again. Antonio gritted his teeth as the alpha pushed down hard, trying to reach pass his partisan to snap at his face. He could feel his whole body straining as his arms started shaking, inching lower and lower, as the alpha's rancid breath filled the small space between them. Drool sliding down its mouth onto Antonio's face.

"Move! The hero will take it from here!" Antonio heard Alfred as he warped to his side, urging the shocked family to pull their sobbing son up and get to safety.

Alfred flicked his dagger out and was about to slash the alpha when a loud trampling sound came from beside him, drawing closer and closer. Alfred twisted his body, raising his dagger, jumping back just in time as a Dison rammed against his dagger, knocking the wind out of Alfred as he flew back through the air. Everything seemed to slow down as he tumbled across the ground. He could see Antonio quickly losing strength as the alpha's huge rancid mouth that was clearly grinning hung inches away from his face. He had to do something to save Antonio, but he couldn't get the proper angle to throw a card. He watched in slow motion as Antonio's strength gave way, and the alpha roaring in triumph launched at his face.

"Antonio's going to die, and I the hero wasn't strong enough to save him." Alfred heard himself thinking as he watched a bright swirling ball of red and orange slam against the alpha, exploding on impact. Alfred blinked as the alpha roared in pain and anger, staggering back as smoke rosed from the scorched scales on its side. Alfred blinked again, letting out a soft 'oof' when he tried to stand and found himself coming to a sudden stop against an arm in front of him.

"Watch your surroundings properly next time да?" Cold violet eyes looked down at his as Ivan smiled and pushed him back, causing Alfred to fall back on the ground before continuing his walk towards the horde, swinging his cane while Krolik peeked out of his scarf in curiosity.

Arthur and the rest had finally reached the family and Antonio. Yao was quickly picking Antonio up as Arthur and Kiku stood in front of the family, weapons drawn and ready while Feli cried beside Ludwig who was at their back, fussing over the family, checking the boy's wounds and dressing them with the first aid kid he bought along with him from their camp.

The Disons growled deeply as they circled the intruders to their meal, accessing if it was threat or prey before them. One Dison was about to launch forward growling when a sudden blur came flying down, hitting it across the head, breaking off one of its horns, knocking the creature to the ground, unmoving. Ivan stood beside the fallen Dison, a wide smile on his face as Alfred came running back from behind. The Disons, realizing that one of their brothers had been injured, roared in fury and charged at them, ultimately forgetting the cowering family in the middle.

The first charged at Ivan, angered at its fallen brethren. Ivan sidestepped eyeing the creature critically, and was about to raise his cane to strike it down when a card came flying. He turned his head, shielding his eyes just as the card blew up in the Dison's face. Ivan turned back as Alfred warped in front of him, dropping onto the stunned Dison, slicing his twin daggers deeply across its front legs, causing the Dison to fall roughly face first onto the ground. The Dison tried to get back up as Alfred jumped off its back, but its front legs refused to budge as ice slowly crept across its skin from the wounds.

"What was that hmm?" Ivan smiled as Alfred stood back up.

"Oh you looked like you needed some help." Alfred smiled back at the taller man, invisible sparks seemly flying across them as they stared at each other, wide smiles on their faces.

The tension between the two died abruptly when the alpha roared again, this time enraged. Both turned to see the Disons charging towards the rest, bent on taking at least a single one down. Feli was screaming as he swung his white flag beside the family huddling on the ground. The cloth of the flag landed on the face of the Dison charging at full speed towards him for a second, before Feli flipped it off. Redirecting the motion of the charging creature, causing it to turn away from both him and the family as Ludwig took the opportunity that his fiancé gave to shoot the Dison in the legs, causing it to fall to the ground, struggling to get back up.

Arthur was muttering under his breath, his thick brows furrowed in concentration, one hand crossed in front of him while the other held on tightly onto his cutlass as a pair of Disons charged towards him. Arthur opened his eyes, merely swinging his empty hand out just as Kiku rolled in front of him, catching the first Dison with his katana, the blade glowed a bright azure blue. He directed the force from the Dison's charge to slide down his blade, and sliced it. The Dison fell to the ground with a grunt, trying to get up but it couldn't as blue runes started appearing and spreading across its body from the cut. Sensing something wrong with the scene that had just unfolded, the second Dison skidded to a stop, but it was too late, Arthur easily dodged it and gave it a small nick with his cutlass. Just like the first, blue runes started spreading, and the Dison too was on the floor struggling to get up as only Arthur saw the magic chains wrapping around it.

Antonio was using his partisan to prop himself up as he leaned backwards, away from a Dison charging towards him. He gripped his partisan tight, and in a swooping move, jumped while swinging it in a downwards circle slamming the head of his partisan down on the Dison's body. Electricity crackled through the Dison as it roared in pain falling to the ground. It was about to stagger back up when Yao stepped in and hit in a few precise spots. The Dison immediately fell back onto the ground unmoving. Yao turned just as another Dison ran towards him. He jumped, feet stepping onto the Dison's head as he used it as a platform to jump off to the side, hitting it in the exact same spots as he swerved down the arc to land gracefully. The Dison tumbled straight onto the ground as well, unmoving.

The alpha watched as its brethren fell one by one. Finally as Yao put his hands together to have his sleeves join in front of him, it roared in frustration, staring hard at those who had bested its group, turned tail and ran, as those who could still move hurried behind it, leaving the ones on the floor growling, struggling to get back up.

"Woah how did you do that with a few small japs?" Alfred asked, as both he and Ivan ran down to meet them, a few immobilized Disons trailing behind them.

"Acupuncture." Yao answered simply. "We'd better move. It might not last long." He continued as a Dison which Lugwig shot tried to get back up again.

The group quickly helped the family up, slowly walking them back to their campsite. Feli had done a wonderful job with bandaging the injured boy's leg while Yao tended to each person with Feli, tagging along to help.

"And where might all of you be from?" Arthur asked, unable to hide his curiosity any longer as the Kiku gave each of them some warm soup he whipped up while Yao and Feli were busy.

Antonio moved towards them, tying his hair in a low ponytail after cleaning the Dison's drool off him. His partially drenched hair plastered to his neck, beads of water trickling down. The father glanced at his family for a moment before looking back up at them. "U-Urbis sir. We were escaping from the Monte back at home."

Everybody was stunned. Silence covered the campsite for a moment before Yao urged them on gently. "Don't worry aru. Could you explain to us right from the beginning?"

The father took a sip of soup. "The Monte started appearing about two months ago. We lived at the outskirts of the capital so none of us thought much about it when they started appearing. But after a week or so, more and more of those creatures started appearing out of nowhere, even in the middle of the day. We sent for help from the capital. It took them almost three full weeks to send soldiers over. And it was only a handful of them. By then, the Monte were already at our doorstep, contaminating all our livestock and crops. The soldiers, Goddess bless their souls were so young and brave. But…"

The father paused again, looking down eyes distant, recounting the tragic event as his wife started sobbing beside him. Their son pushed himself towards his mother, giving her a small hug, fighting back tears himself while his younger brother huddled next to him.

Anguish showed on the father's face as he looked back up, fighting his own tears. "The Monte swarmed the town at the break of dawn a week later. The soldiers gave their lives holding them off so that we could escape. Our middle son… he… he couldn't make it. A Monte appeared just when we were about to leave and grabbed him. He tried to fight it, give us more time to run. He… was torn limb from limb and eaten before our eyes as I ran away like a coward. I… I couldn't do anything to save him. It should have been me instead of him!"

The camp fell silent once again as a solemn mood descended upon them. Feli stood at the back, head down staring blankly at his shoes. Finally Alfred stood up with a smile. "We're all alive now that's what matters. Don't fret the hero will make sure justice is served! All the Monte will pay for what they did."

"Hero's don't seek revenge idiot." Arthur muttered under his breath, glaring back at Alfred as he turned towards him flaring.

"Thank you…" The father looked up at the two princes, a forced smile on his face.

"I-I'm sorry for trying to steal your things the other day." The boy spoke up, timidly looking up at Ivan.

"Hmm~ I had fun chasing you." Ivan smile down at the boy, causing him to cower, shrinking down onto the ground, green eyes looking up in fear as Krolik peeked out from the tip of Ivan scarf, and amusingly watching the exchange.

"Why don't we all turn in for the night? There's a village not too far from here. We could bring all of you there before continuing on the road tomorrow. Don't worry. I'll talk to the village head and make sure everything goes smooth." Yao smiled gently at the family as the father looked up at up, tears falling from his eyes as he croaked out a heartfelt 'thank you'.

Everyone was silent the next morning, eating a quiet breakfast before squeezing into the car, driving off to the village. They reached late in the afternoon, all eager to get out and stretch their limbs. Yao headed off with the family to speak to the village head while the rest loitered around the village square.

Ivan sat under a tree, patting a soft feathery creature known as a Casith that was lazing under the tree as well, as Krolik peeked from the edge of his scarf. Ivan was stroking the creature absentmindedly when Krolik shifted violently in his scarf, making him squirm as he reached for the small white creature, looking worriedly all over it. Ivan sighed and let it down albeit reluctant, thinking maybe the creature wanted some fresh air. Ivan went back to stroke the Casith but Krolik flew and hit Ivan before turning away. Ivan blinked before smiling widely and scooped up the squirming Krolik and rubbed his face against his very cute Krolik.

Alfred was stuffing himself full of burgers by a store, as if he had not had them for an eternity, while Antonio who was resting beside him slowly edged himself away, trying to avoid the splatters of sauce and burger bits from Alfred. Arthur sat opposite of Alfred, trying his best to ignore the silvery-blue eyed man while sipping his tea, though an irritated look of disgust was clear on his face.

Ludwig, Feli and Kiku took a small tour of the village. Feli's face however, though smiling looked down. Ludwig walked up next to his fiancé, noticing the change in mood and asked if anything was wrong. Feli merely smile brightly, giving a quick answer that everything was fine before skipping ahead.

An hour passed before Yao returned with the family and the village head. "Thank you so much for helping us." Yao said to the village head as everyone gathered around.

"It is my pleasure. I am overjoyed to be able to help the prince and his companions in any way possible." He replied, bowing down towards Alfred who grinned in reply as the family gasped at the identity of the ones who saved them. "Please, it is getting late. If I may humbly suggest, we have accommodations available for the night. It is not the best, but I am sure that all of you would have a good rest and meal before leaving."

Everyone's eyes lit up at the thought of having a soft bed to sleep in for the night. Even Yao nodded his head in agreement. "It would be good to have a proper rest and see to any injuries we may have before leaving. Through we'll have to pick up the pace and no more stopping for anything unnecessary." He said, glancing at Alfred who simply laughed out loud.

The villagers prepared a feast for their honoured guests while they relaxed at the village square. Dinner was served, spread out across a long table right in the middle of the village square. Alfred and Arthur somehow sat side by side much to Arthur's annoyance at the head of the table. Opposite them sat Yao got to sit beside Kiku who just ignored the man's constant chatter. Ivan was sitting in between Yao and the boy they saved, his smile never leaving his face as the boy trembling in his seat tried to edge away as far as he could towards his father, which wasn't far at all. Antonio sat opposite of Ivan, getting unnerved by the violet eyed man's constant smile as well. Beside Antonio, Feli was strangely quiet, only complaining about the lack of pasta on the table once as Ludwig glanced worriedly at him. The village head and the rest of the villagers trailed behind on both sides of the table, trading stories and laughing merrily.

Night fell as the dinner ended. The village head brought the family to where they would be staying. Alfred waved with a huge grin on his face as they left, while the rest merely smiled. Everyone was excited to see their accommodation for the night. But some of their moods immediately fell when they saw the beds available.

"I can't believe I have to share a bed with you." Arthur groaned, his face in his hands as they stared at the single huge bed in the middle of the room.

"I don't want to share it with you either but there's no way I'm going to sleep on the floor. You can if you want to." Alfred retort as Arthur turned to face him, obviously angry.

"There's no way I'm sleeping on the floor idiot!" Arthur stomped out of the room as Alfred followed, ruffling his hair.

He stepped out to see everyone gathered in the living room, serious expression on their faces. Even Arthur who was angry just a moment ago was leaning on the wall, his face in deep thought.

"It is possible that a lot of places has been affected." Ludwig suggested looking around the room as Feli sat quietly beside him.

"Still the response time is too slow. And the lack of numbers in soldiers is strange…" Yao muttered out loud, his chin resting on his hand, deep in thought.

"What's wrong?" Alfred asked, totally confused.

"Can't you see? We're discussing Urbis and what happened yesterday." Arthur grumbled as Alfred looked at him blankly.

Yao sighed before explaining. "You know that Sanctus has troops patrolling at night due to the Monte?" He looked up as Alfred gave a nod. "Every nation does the same, especially now that Emperor Roma has said that Germania may be back. It's said that the troops in Urbis in directly under the 2nd in command. He is a little eccentric, but he is a great commander who cares deeply for his nation and the citizens. It's strange that he would simply allow a village to be destroyed, Monte or not."

The room grew quiet once again as everyone was deep in thought until Antonio spoke up. "There has been rumours going around the street that Emperor Roma doesn't seem to be bothered with the Monte."

"So that means that only the 2nd in command is helping the people out?" Feli suddenly spoke up, even scaring Ludwig a little as he turned to look at his fiancé.

"Would appear so…" Kiku replied softly.

"But recently I heard that the troops are lessening, and well, all of us saw what happened yesterday." Antonio added.

Everyone became silent once again. Feli trembled slightly, his face looked as if he was about to cry. Ludwig quickly knelt down beside his fiancé. "What's wrong? Is everything alright?" He asked, softly holding onto Feli's shoulder concerned.

Feli sat quietly as Ludwig waited for a response before continuing on. "Don't worry. Everything will be fine. We'll meet with the rest of the nations, figure this out and help as many as we can." Squeezing his shoulder a little.

Feli looked up at his fiancé's face, forcing a smile on his face as Ludwig smiled back at the smaller man, comforting blue eyes staring deep into brown.

With the discussion coming to an inconclusive end, everyone headed to wash up, and back to their respective bedrooms. Alfred was back in the bedroom, his shirt on the bed as he flexed his left hand, his glove on the bed as well, tracing the corruption with his eyes.

"I don't know about you, but I'm going to sleep." Arthur suddenly barged into the room yawning.

Both stared at each other for a moment, mouths wide open, until Arthur saw Alfred's strange left hand hanging in front of him.

"What's wrong with your hand?" Arthur asked, curious yet concerned as Alfred quickly hid his hand behind his back.

"I-it's nothing. There's nothing wrong with the hero!" Alfred laughed, grabbing his glove off the bed.

"Just let me have a look." Arthur grasped Alfred's hand towards him as Alfred turned away, not knowing how to react. The black sharp scaly corruption looked familiar to Arthur. But he couldn't remember when or where he had seen it. He reached out to touch it with his other hand, and immediately pulled back as if stung. It was brief, but the contact made him shiver, a feeling close to dread and death sweeping through his body as his finger tingled slightly as if burnt.

Alfred pulled his hand away, pulling on his glove. "It's been there since I was young. It doesn't hurt or anything. There's nothing to worry about."

With that, Alfred pulled his shirt over his head and crawled into bed as Arthur stood standing at him, trying to wrap his head around what he just saw.

"What are you doing? Need someone to tuck you into bed? Or are you waiting for something else?" Alfred smirked, his chin on his hand as he turned to lie sideways. Arthur's face went bright red.

"S-shut up!" Arthur blurt out, stomping over to his side of the bed, crawling in, his back turned towards Alfred's direction as Alfred laughed and lay back down on the pillow, falling into an empty sleep a moment later.


	11. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: Don't own Hetalia.

A/N: Chapter 7's been revised and everything from there's pushed back by a chapter so its 1 new chp instead of 2 and thanks for favs/following and sorry for the late update.

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Chapter 10

Everyone woke up bright and early the next day. All of them except Yao, Ludwig and Ivan, who kept humming a foreign tune, were yawning with tears in their eyes as they stacked whatever necessities they needed onto the creature known as Faris. They have a crescent blade-like horn on its long snout which curved back towards its head and thick strong neck, as well as two-toed hoofs that are able to grip onto just about any surface terrain. Their powerful hind legs kicked out impatiently as they neighed excitedly to one another, wide oval shaped eyes darting around, eager to get moving.

They had planned to bring the family back to the capital for refuge. But with only one vehicle they wouldn't all be able to fit in. As such, after much debate, everyone had decided to get family back with the car and carry on the Faris for the rest of their trip. They had to leave their car at the edge of the border, setting it to auto navigate back and switch to the Faris for the rest of their journey in Urbis towards the capital anyway. It was just a matter of time.

Alfred could feel Arthur's eyes burrowing into his back as he tackled his overly hyped Faris. "Staring isn't going to get you anywhere. If you want a signature from the awesome hero all you got to do is ask." He grinned as Arthur quickly turned away.

"Don't be an idiot. Who would want to stare at you?" Arthur scowled as Alfred laughed. But after Alfred turned back to his Faris, Arthur peeked at the man again, eyes landing on his gloved hand.

After a quick breakfast everyone stood by the entrance as the family walked up to the car. Everyone said their farewells, watching the car speed off back towards the capital, before getting onto their Faris, heading off in the opposite direction towards Urbis as the villagers waved goodbye. Even with the constant nagging from Yao and Ludwig to speed up, everyone had a blast galloping through the rolling hills and plains. The heavy atmosphere still hung around them, but they had all silently decided not to worry about it, at least for now.

They covered more than twice of what had been expected, and when the Faris finally decided that they had enough of galloping, they were already near the Gorazvok Ravine. Feli was rubbing his eyes while Antonio shifted a yawn as they pulled their now reluctant to move Faris towards the small compound near the edge of the ravine by a wooden bridge.

"Sorry we took so long to reach." Yao called out as a tall young man with neatly combed short black hair walked up to them while adjusting his square curved glasses.

"It is alright." the young man smiled calmly as he reached out to help Yao with a few small bags off the Faris that was already starting to lay down on the spot at the edge of the ravine. "I am in no rush in this empty place."

Arthur couldn't help but stare in awe as he peek pass the edge of the Gorazvok Ravine down at the small dark river swirling at the bottom with dangerous looking rocks littering the bank of the river and sides of the ravine. One wrong step and he knew he would be tumbling down to certain death. Even if he managed to grab onto the sides halfway through, the sharp jugged rocks would tear him to shreds from the downwards force as he fell. The small river at the bottom wouldn't be of much help either. Falling from this height even if he did manage to land in the river he would still end up as a blood stain flowing away with the water.

Arthur tore his eyes off the edge as they neared the small compound, and headed through the entrance. They left their happily relaxing Faris by the stables as they dragged themselves through the wooden door of the building. The young man served them a dinner of Dison stew with bread as they sat around the long wooden table in the living room. Everyone ate hungrily except for Antonio who couldn't help grimacing as he stirred his stew, watching chunks of Dison meat swirl around the brown liquid.

"I trust you'll only be staying for the night instead of the planned two days before heading off across the bridge to Urbis?" The young man asked as he helped to clear their now empty bowls.

"Yes. We only have a few more days till the conference. If everything goes as planned we should be able to reach just a day or two before it officially starts." Yao replied.

The young man nodded. "I'll make sure that all preparations are completed before you leave tomorrow." He motioned to a small corridor leading deeper into the building. "Your rooms are ready and the baths have been filled."

Everyone filtered through the corridor to their respective rooms, with Ivan walking behind humming a soft tune, unknowingly sending shivers to those in front of him. Alfred quickly headed into his room, closing the door behind him before sitting on the bed with a sigh. He looked down at his gloved left hand, slowly pulling off his glove, rubbing the edge of the corruption.

"Do you still remember the main points that'll most likely be covered during the confer-" Yao stopped in his tracks, hand still on the door knob, looking at Alfred sitting on the bed while Ivan peeked in with Krolik on his head. "Aiyah! What are you doing?! Cover up your hand!" Yao hissed, as Ivan quickly slammed the door shut while Alfred grabbed his glove.

"Don't tell me it's hurting aru. There isn't much we can do here if it is." Yao took a few steps towards Alfred, rolling up his sleeves in the meantime.

"Nope I'm fine, really totally fine." Alfred leaned back, hands behind his head as Ivan pulled two chair over next to Alfred, sitting down on one as Yao sat on the other beside him.

Not believing a word his charge said, Yao reached out his hand, waiting as Alfred looked at him shaking his head. Finally, the silvery-blue eyed man placed his left hand palm up on Yao's with a sigh.

"Why didn't you tell me it grew?" Yao asked as he observed the corruption, turning Alfred's hand around.

Alfred rolled his eyes. "I'm fine. It only grew a little. There's no cause for alarm."

"Sure it isn't hurting?"

"Of course I'm sure."

"Then why are your fingers twitching slightly?" Ivan's eyes softened as the Alfred glared at him. "It's been hurting since the ball hasn't it? And it seems to have been twitching even more the past few days."

"It's not like saying would help, would it?" Alfred remarked as he pulled his hand away from Yao.

Yao gritted his teeth. "Thanks guys, I appreciate it." With that, both Yao and Ivan was rushed out of the room. Neither of them seemed notice as a slight shadow dashed into the neighbouring room, emerald eyes narrowing at the eavesdropped conversation as they walked back to their rooms.

The next morning everyone got on their overeager Faris and headed across the bridge as the young man stood by, sending them off with a bow. Alfred watched as Arthur's eyes looked down at the deadly drop from across the wooden railing.

"What's wrong you scared? Nothing short of a huge fiery explosion would break the bridge." Alfred grinned from beside the man, flicking a red card out, playing with it.

"Stop fooling around." Arthur snapped, quickening his pace away from the snickering Alfred.

The mood was light-hearted as they crossed the border, though Yao was curious as to the lack of soldiers on the other side. But as they went deeper into Urbis territory, the light-hearted mood steadily fell lower and lower as the surroundings changed. Even though Urbis isn't lush like Sanctus with its rolling hills and forests, it was filled with beautiful greenish brown fertile grass littered with pure white snow, with tall spiky trees found nowhere else growing proudly all throughout.

But all they saw was a broken land. The plants bend in defeat, dull grey snow covering all as far as the eye could see. The hoofs of their Faris trotting softly on the snow, the silence almost deafening as they passed by a village, even worse off than the surroundings. It was totally destroyed, the clear sigh of corruption on the land as bodies lay rotting unattended. The surviving villagers, most likely all corrupted by now, barely noticed them, and even when they did, it was just a slight glance, peeking out from their houses with fear and dread on their faces before shutting themselves back in, seeing that the group could do little to help.

"The situation is this bad…?" Alfred muttered as they passed a body of a child by the edge of the village, limbs ripped open and eaten.

"I'm guessing this is the village that family of four came from." Arthur said, emerald eyes scanning the broken homes and bodies. "Even if it is far from the capital, this is still unacceptable…"

Just as Alfred was about to turn away from the heart-wrenching sight, the body twitched. He stopped, eyes narrowing slightly as he jumped down his Faris, walking over to take a closer look. He squatted down close to the dead child, ignoring the growing corruption across the mangled body as the rest gathered around curious with what he was doing.

"What in the bloody hell do you think you're doing?!" Arthur hissed grabbing Alfred's hand as the latter was about to reach out towards the body.

"I saw him move." Alfred replied, sharp eyes not leaving the body, watching for the slightest hint of movement. "He could still be alive."

"Don't joke around there's no way he could be ali-." Arthur stepped back, eyes widening as not only the presumably dead child twitched, but coughed.

Alfred moved immediately, reaching out to comfort the child as he coughed, ignoring the fact that the deadly corruption upon the boy could very well spread to him, or that the child might no longer be a child. The boy's eyes fluttered slightly as they opened up, blue at blue, searching for something. He gasped, tears rolling down his face as he tried to form words with his cracked bloodied lips. Alfred held the child close, cradling the broken body even after the shaking stopped as the others watched on silently.


	12. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: Don't own Hetalia.

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Chapter 11

The cheers he heard as he entered the Capital sounded miles away. All he could see was the face of the child crying as he tried to talk, to have his words heard by a group of strangers. Alfred squeezed his eyes shut, trying mentally to shake the sensation he felt of having a body grow limp in his arms.

"Look up and smile."

"I know Yao Yao." Alfred forced a small grin towards the man on his left as Yao grimaced, before putting the widest smile he could muster on his face, occasionally waving towards the cheering on-lookers even though his eyes were as hard as stone.

The escorting soldiers filtered through the crowd up a winding sloop and almost as soon as they entered the Capital, they were standing in front of the heavy iron gate of the fortress like castle. The gate slowly creaked up as they dismounted their neighing Faris.

"We sincerely apologise for having Your Graces to walk the rest of the way to the door. But there is a lack of room in the castle's stable. We hope that it is of no inconvenience to Your Graces." The captain of the escorting soldiers bowed down low as a few of his men led the clearly reluctant Faris over to a make shift stable by the side.

They walked pass the raised heavy iron gates as the captain continued. "Unfortunately His Majesty Emperor is busy right this moment and is unable to welcome you. As such, His Majesty Emperor has instructed us to give you the best rooms in the inner parts of the castle as an apology."

Arthur didn't know how tired he was till he stepped into the room. He wanted more than anything to just lie down on the soft fluffy armchair right in front of him and sleep, but forced himself to remain standing as the representatives from Sanctus knocked and entered the room.

"Still thinking about the village?" Arthur stared wearily at Alfred as the blue eyed man gritted his teeth.

"Who wouldn't? Those people, they would most likely have started turning by now, and we didn't do anything. We should have helped them!"

"And how would you propose to do that? Blighted or not, no king would like his people killed by another nation even out of mercy. If we did it more problems would arise. We came to discuss about this threat so let's do that. This isn't a time to allow your emotions to take over."

"Even so Emperor Roma has clearly abandoned that village. Look at the state it was in! We should have done something!"

"He might not have heard that the village has been wiped out. Furthermore do you really think you would have had the resolve to kill them? You couldn't even move when the boy turned. Ivan had to step in and kill him, no it, before it attacked you."

Alfred stiffened at the words spoken by the man in front of him. He clenched his hands tight, as Arthur continued to stare at him, waiting to see how he would react.

"At least the people in the Capital are safe and cheery." Feli suddenly butted in. "But some of them seemed a little sad. Maybe they haven't had pasta for a while."

"It seemed more like fear to me. I've seen those looks before, the hopelessness and panic in the eyes of street beggars starving to death in a corner." Antonio murmured, as silence fell down upon them.

They stood in such a silence that one could hear his own heartbeat for a long time, each with thoughts running through their weary minds. All still unable to comprehend what they had seen in the morning.

"Strange why there's such a large number of soldiers in the Capital. Wonder what they're planning." Ivan finally spoke up, breaking the deafening silence.

Yao shrugged. "It may be possible that Emperor Roma is fortifying the defence of the Capital. Moreover representatives from all four nations are here. It would be bad if something happened."

"Hmm~ Maybe. I'm going to take a walk around."

With that, Ivan left humming before anyone could say a word. "Well I guess we should head to our room. We will see you tomorrow." Yao bowed as he dragged Alfred out of the room with Antonio following close behind.

Arthur sighed, rubbing his eyes wearily before turning towards the coffee table while activating his magic portal, summoning a bunch of books and notes out.

"It's been a long day, go get some rest." Arthur addressed everyone while flipping through the information on the Monte once again and see if there was anything he might have missed on why they would attack a village and leave it so. They were known for their monstrous ways of ripping anything living to shreds.

"I'm sure that we have covered everything, but I'll be happy to help Arthur-san, there might be something that could help shed some light on today's events."

Arthur gave a slight nod, but something about what Kiku said threw him deep in thoughts.

"Ve ve~ we'll help too!" Feli jumped in cheerfully, dragging Ludwig along.

Alfred slumped down on the armchair as he stared hard at an old book in his hands, as if the answers he was looking for where hidden somewhere within. The book as a keepsake from his father. King Roderich had given the already worn out book to Alfred when he was a child, not long after his mother had died. He had told him that it was important, to keep it close and that this was a task only he could do. At first he was overjoyed and proud to be given such a task, but now he had little doubt that it was all just a trick to keep him at bay. The words in the book made no sense to him at all, but still it was precious to him.

Alfred finally jumped up after a few seconds, closing the book and putting it back into a pocket underneath his coat. "Ah screw this, Yao is there anything else I should know before tomorrow?"

Determined eyes looked straight at the Chinese as Yao smiled in response, taking out a small notebook from under his jacket. "Lots."

Antonio helped out for a while, adding in what he had heard from the streets until he couldn't help but notice Yao glancing at the door once every few seconds.

"What's up?"

"Ivan's taking a long time to come back."

"He's fine, probably just walking around having a blast on his own." Alfred waved off, eyes totally focused on Yao's small notebook.

"I'll go look for him. It's getting pretty late and he has a habit of shaking off his guide."

"Guide…" Arthur's eyes widened, "If they were obeying—"

Bewildered with Antonio's hand pausing at the doorknob, Yao asked as he crossed the room for the door.

"What's wrong?"

"The door," Rigid clinking noise echoed in the room. "I can't open it, it's locked."


	13. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: Don't own Hetalia.

* * *

Chapter 12

Yao grabbed onto the doorknob, turning it once, twice, then harshly for a few more times as only the clinking sound of the locked door could be heard. He turned to face the others as Alfred stood up, a look of worry and question on his face.

"I am sure the door wasn't locked when we came in. But now it's not even budging aru." Yao muttered as he took a step back thinking.

"Should we call for help?" Antonio asked as Alfred strode over, cracking his fingers. "Let's just break it down. We can explain ourselves later."

Alfred took a breath as he raised his leg and kicked the door, only to fall back hopping clenching his feet. "What's with the door?! It's rock hard and my whole feet feels numb with static!"

Yao stretched his hand out towards the wooden door, placing his palm on the polished wooden frame and immediately recoiled as electricity cracked at the spot where his hand was just seconds ago. "Magic? Don't tell me—"

"Hey guys sorry to interrupt but I feel kind of faint." Antonio groaned as he staggered towards them, his hand on his head. "My head's killing me."

"Now that you mention it, I haven't been feeling that good for a while as well. The air feels really stuffy in here."

"The air… don't breathe! We have to get out of here fast!" Yao shouted as he covered his mouth and nose with his arm.

"I'll try to break it down." Antonio swung his partisan towards the door, electricity crackling at the tip of the spearhead as it connected with the wood, only to rebound as Antonio himself fell onto the ground on his butt. "Ow ow ow. Great. Now my head hurts even more."

"Leave it to me!" Alfred swiped a card out and threw it towards the door as the runes on it grew red and the card exploded. "No way…" Alfred's eyes widened as the smoke cleared to reveal not even a single spot of soot on the door while the area around it was burnt totally black from the explosion.

Alfred threw another card, then another, but even with the combined attack from all three the wooden door remained the same, merely crackling as electricity sparked across the surface for a moment.

Alfred fell to the ground swaying, his hand on his knee panting. "Damn it what's wrong with the door why can't we break it down?! I'm starting to feel faint." Alfred gritted his teeth as he clenched his left arm tight. "Hurts like hell as well."

"Didn't I tell you to cover your mouth?" Yao hissed, smacking a handkerchief he took out from his pocket onto Alfred's face hard. "Why is Emperor Roma doing this? What exactly is he thinking!" Yao gave the door another kick, before staggering back beside Antonio who was trying to prop himself up. "Tsk Ivan that idiot! Disappearing when he's needed."

Alfred could feel his strength failing as his senses grew dimmer and dimmer. He watched as Yao and Antonio fell down onto the ground, breath getting slower and slower. He could feel his eyelids fluttering close as Antonio reached out towards him, giving Alfred a small weak punch on the shoulder, forcing a small grin on his face. "Don't. Fall asleep now. It… would be a pain. To wake you…"

"I'm not." Alfred huffed as Yao tried to force himself up again. He watched as the door started rippling like water. "Just something in my eye. Sight's messing up, door turning into jelly. Heh how unsightly for a hero."

"No. Something is happening to the door." Yao's eyes widened as the rippling increased.

He turned just in time, falling back onto the ground as the door exploded to show a panting Arthur standing at the doorway amidst the smoke, with his hands raised.

"Come on! Hurry!" Arthur said in between his breaths.

"W-what happened how did you manage to break the door down?" Alfred coughed, as the representatives from Oblitus dragged them up.

"Magic. It's a good thing I managed to break the barrier when I did. If I had been a little later I doubt any of you would still be conscious." Arthur replied.

"Please, we can talk later, we have to leave now!" Ludwig fired a few warning shots as soldiers spilled out onto the hallway.

Kiku took the lead, helping Yao along as Arthur grabbed Alfred, while Feli fussed over Antonio as Ludwig took the rear. They slowly edged along the hallway as soldiers crowded around them, charging forth.

"What's wrong with the soldiers? They're firing with no regards at all! Are they that determined to kill us?" Alfred shouted as a soldier in front of him fell down dead from a stray arrow fired from his fellow soldier far behind.

"At least it's effective." Antonio winched as an arrow flew pass grazing his shoulder.

Alfred could feel his senses coming back along with a pounding headache, and the chaos around didn't help. Blood and screams laid the path as they tried to find their way out inch by inch. He gritted his teeth as he threw a card towards a soldier at the front who was aiming his crossbow at Yao. Alfred squeezed his eyes as the soldier screamed in pain and fell onto the ground dead. He watched in fury as the other soldiers stepped on and over the body, with not even a single glance, weapons raised, all eyes on them.

"Bloody hell, where is the main gate?! Are we even going the right way?" Exasperated, Arthur blasted two soldiers away with a single fireball.

"Eh? But isn't that the gate?" Feli pointed to the other side of the level below them as he rerouted an arrow with a wave of his flag. None of them even noticed that they had reached the castle square.

"Good job Feli!" Ludwig praised as Feli smiled back in reply.

"It's closed aru." Yao frowned, kicking a soldier clean on the throat in the process. "There has to be a switch to open it."

"There." Kiku motioned. "That room jutting out on the opposite side seems the most likely to be the control room."

They went as fast as they could towards the room without getting separated, edging off in a wall like formation as more and more soldiers rushed out, trying to stop them. Yao kicked the door open as Antonio rushed in towards the control panel overlooking the iron gates before the soldiers inside could react.

"Damn it needs a card key!" Antonio yelled, searching the length of the control panel.

"That guy over there!"

Alfred watched as an officer grabbed the handle of a door on the other side of the room, the important card key dangling out from his belt. Everyone else was either too far or busy protecting the rest to do anything.

"Tsk I don't have a choice." Alfred swiped a card out but immediately buckled as he felt his legs give way due to what had happened in the room and exhaustion. He growled, forcing himself to take a step forward, raising his card as the officer turned the handle opening the door, and threw.

The whole room went silent. As if time had stopped, Alfred stared stupefied as his card, their lifeline to getting out, flew towards the grinning face of the officer and impaled onto the door, right in front of the officer's face. The officer stood for a moment, grinning even wider before pulling the door open wide and laughing victoriously, only to run head first onto a long unbuttoned light tan coat.

"Oh! There you guys are!" Ivan exclaimed.

"Grab him!" Yao shouted as the officer recovering from his second shock tried to dash away, not before Ivan grabbed him by the collar, smacking him onto the ground with a spine breaking crack.

"The card key! Hurry!"

"I was looking for you guys for so long! Some soldiers appeared and insisted on escorting me while I was walking around, then they attacked me when I refused, and I got lost when more came out. I'm so glad to finally find you guys!" Ivan smiled cheerily, passing Antonio the card key stained with the officer's blood.

"A-anyhow the gate is open, now we have to get down pronto!" Antonio stuttered as he pulled the leaver opening the heavy iron gates.

"A way down? I came from downstairs. Just out the door, turn left to a stairway down and out to the gates."

There was a new sense of relieve and hope as they bolted the door were they came from shut, and ran down, only to see the square filled with soldiers all armed and ready to kill. Alfred swiped out another card, feeling his legs buckle again as Arthur raised his cutlass, breathing heavily. The two princes glanced at each other, giving a slight nod before charging head first into the squadron of soldiers.

The battle was a frantic mess as the two groups fought with an unravelled ferocity towards the gates. Both knowing that if they stopped even for a second there would be no second chance. The gate had started to close. But the precious few minutes the bolted door gave them was more than enough for everyone to get out if nothing went wrong. Arthur watched as the gate grew closer and closer. He grinned, feeling a sense of victory as Feli ran out from under the gate.

He took a step forward towards the closing gates which everyone had passed, letting the smile on his face grow, and felt a hand grab his leg. Arthur looked down in horror as a soldier stabbed in the stomach gripped his leg tightly, a determined look on his face. Arthur muttered a quick sorry as he kicked the soldier, pulling his leg away. But it was already too late. Another soldier grabbed hold onto him, pinning him down, as he watched the gate that was just a few step away slowly close.

"Get away from him!"

Ludwig grabbed onto the soldier, putting his pistol to the soldier's head, squeezing the trigger as he wrenched him off Arthur. He clicked his tongue as he turned to look at the gate, before pulling Arthur up, and shoving him. Arthur fell onto the floor, trying to comprehend what was before him as he looked the iron gate before him, now shut with Ludwig still inside.

"Ludwig! No!"

Arthur turned his head, eyes watching as Feli rushed towards the gate. "Ludwig, I'll lift the gate and get you out, hold on!" Feli cried as he gripped the gate so tight that his knuckles turned white, trying to lift it.

"L-Ludwig, why?" Arthur croaked as he stumbled to his feet as everyone crowded around, having recovered their Faris from the makeshift stable.

"It's my duty to make sure you're safe Your Highness. I'm glad I was able to make it in time." Ludwig replied with a smile turning to face them as the soldiers surrounding him crept closer wearily. "Now please run. I'll find a way out on my own."

Feli's eyes widened as tears flowed out. "No! I'm not leaving you! I won't!"

"Feli please, you have a duty to look after the Prince. I'll be fine, I still have a promise I need to fulfil with you don't I? I'll see you soon. Kiku please look after him for me."

Kiku hesitated for a moment, before giving a slight nod as he approached Feli and hit him on the back of his neck, knocking him out.

"Thank you." Ludwig said with his back facing them as Kiku gently mounted the unconscious Feli onto the Faris.

Alfred took a step forward, when Yao placed his hand on his shoulder, shaking his head. "We can't do anything, let's go."

"Ludwig, I promise I'll come back for you." Arthur cried, unable to control the tears flowing down from his face as he got up on his Faris.

The soft smile on Ludwig morphed into a hard determined look on his face as he heard the galloping growing further. "Come on then, we haven't got all day." He said as he raised his pistol.

The soldiers rushed at him as fired his pistol at any that came too close, dodging blades and spears for what felt like hours. He clenched his teeth together as one by one they managed to injure him more and more. There were too many and he was exhausted and losing blood. He could barely stand straight for much longer. "Die!" Ludwig spun around surprised, raising his arm against the blade of the soldier.

"I'm sorry Feli." Ludwig whispered, bracing himself for the impact.

'CLANG' Ludwig watched as the sword flew, stabbing onto the ground a few feet away from him. The soldier, with a look of horror and shock slowly fell to the ground, dead. Ludwig stood still, trying to comprehend what had happened when a warm back hit his, jolting him back to reality.

"Who?"

"Heh so you're the guy Feli has been jabbering about." The man behind him scoffed as a little yellow bird chirped and landed on his head.

* * *

Me: Hibari-san! you're in the wrong place! (Hit, fly


	14. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: Don't own Hetalia.

* * *

Chapter 13

Arthur kept his head turned towards the Capital as they sped away through the grey snowy landscape. Their escape was a surprise to the patrolling soldiers outside the castle and by the time they had received orders and organized to chase them, they were already far out of the troop's sight. The Faris was a huge help as well, galloping faster than usual, eager to leave the confines of the tall walls and out onto the open land. But even so, they were tiring out and everyone agreed they were due for a much needed rest.

"We could rest there for the night." Yao said languidly, motioning towards a huge rock with an overhanging edge that formed a shallow cave by a snow covered cliff.

They merely nodded, got down from their Faris and went under the tall leafless bent trees whose shadows stretched far, as if trying to avoid them. Ivan did a quick check before motioning the rest in with a smile as they slumped down onto the ground dead tired.

"Is everyone alright?" Kiku asked as he carried the still unconscious Feli down and lay him softly onto the ground.

Arthur averted his eyes, biting his lip as he stood up quickly, almost tripping over himself. "I'll go look for some twigs to start a fire with."

"Is it really okay to let him go alone?" Alfred frowned as everyone else went about their own activities, ignoring the stumbling figure walking off.

Antonio shrugged winching as Yao tended to his wounds. "I doubt we would be able to do anything right now."

"But still –"

"Stop complaining. Saying anything will only make things worse, especially now that Feli is still asleep. Just sit still and let Ivan look at your injuries." Yao snapped, pulling the thread firmly to close Antonio's open wound, causing a yelp.

Alfred opened his mouth to protest, but closed it shut when he saw the look on everyone's faces. Even though nobody was saying anything, the look that they wore said enough. Even the ones that were most affect tended to their wounds silently. He remained silent, clenching his mouth shut as Ivan examined his injuries.

"Could you tell us what happened before we met?" Yao enquired as everyone huddled around the small fire that Arthur had made.

Kiku turned to look at Arthur for a moment before speaking. "We were looking through some documents on the Monte right after you left. That was when Arthur-san realized that something was wrong. It was due to his quick thinking and reflexes that we managed to break down the door before the barrier around was fully formed. Still, it was not an easy task, as the barrier was created to be much stronger inside the room. We faced quite a few challenges in breaking it down even in its weakened state."

"So how did you figure out something was wrong." Antonio wondered out loudly.

The campsite turned quiet as everyone waited for Arthur to speak up. Finally he sighed, rubbing his eyes wearily. "As everyone would know, the Monte are known for their monstrous ways of ripping anything living to shreds. What we witnessed at the village was abnormal."

"Well not everybody." Ivan grinned as Alfred quickly turned away, hiding his surprised face.

Arthur rolled his eyes. "It was strange, so I tried to look for anything that could explain this occurrence. That was when I remembered the documents on how the presumed leader of the Monte, Germania, could control hordes of those monstrous creatures to do his bidding, even if it meant going against their usual natural instinct."

A loud gasp sounded across the campfire, as what Arthur said settled in.

"This whole incident points to the fact that Germania has indeed returned. If it was just one or two it would have been easily dismissible. But when we were riding pass, most of the villagers survived. Not dead in pieces. But alive and corrupted." Yao noted, deep in thought.

"But what about that child?! He was mangled up so badly, it was a miracle that he was still alive when we saw him! There's no way you could say that those monsters were holding back!" Alfred argued, jumping to his feet.

"Germania cannot go against nature, Monte are mindless monsters to begin with." Antonio explained empathetically as Alfred sat back down defeated.

Arthur lowered his head in bitter acceptance. "It makes sense, but that doesn't explain why Urbis seems to be the only nation that is affected so badly. Yes, there is an increase in Monte activity in the other nations, but from what I know there hasn't been an attack of such depth and ferocity. Furthermore, the fact that villagers are risking the dangers to escape to another nation instead of just seeking refuge in another village or the Capital itself is strange. Do you recall that family? It took a handful of soldiers three weeks to cover what we took only days."

"As Ivan had mentioned before," Arthur paused, giving Ivan a slight nod who was smiling at him before continuing on, "the positioning of the soldiers were suspicious. I still had my doubts then, but what Kiku said made me realize and confirmed my suspicious." Arthur took a deep breathe. "Emperor Roma is most likely working with Germania and the Monte."

The silence that enveloped the campsite after what Arthur said was deafening. Even the crackling fire seemed to have grown quiet from the sudden proclamation.

"It makes sense after everything that happened. But to assume that before the attack… Forgive my rudeness but are you sure? How did you know?" Yao enquired, clearly shaken by the news.

"Kiku mentioned the word 'light', and that made me realize that throughout our time in Urbis, the whole place seemed darkened even with the sun up bright,. What's more, everything seems to be dying and lifeless, and up until now, we have yet to see a single animal." Arthur pointed out.

"Krolik has been hiding under my scarf ever since we stepped into Urbis." Ivan added. "And the Faris have been edgy as well."

Arthur continued "I had presumed that it might be due to the season or the weather, but the weather was fine, and it isn't the cold season, the trees and animals shouldn't be hibernating yet. That rose my suspicion that something was wrong. The Monte prefer dark lifeless environments, and the state that Urbis is in is almost ideal for them to be running wild in the open. It could very well be something wrong in Urbis, but if it is, then why has Emperor Roma done nothing to quell the spread of the Monte? Emperor Roma is not known to be, forgive my language, a cowardly man to hide behind his subjects. In fact, he is said to be the strongest Emperor of Urbis since the founding of the nation. Even if the problem is in the Capital, stationing a needless amount of soldiers inside is ridiculous."

He took a breath, looking up into the eyes of every single person. "All of this, in addition to the fact that we were just attacked, points to the fact that Emperor Roma might be working with the Monte. We, our nations, are all in danger."

Silence once again befell the campsite as everyone tried to process what Arthur just said.

"There is one thing though." Yao finally spoke up. "What about Nullus? We did not see the nation's representatives when we were in the castle. Could it be that…?"

Kiku nodded. "The representatives from Nullus could very well been killed as well. It would make the most sense. Siding with the Monte would bring nothing but trouble. Plus there is no reason for Nullus to side with Urbis and the Monte." Kiku placed his hand on his chin in thought. "What I'm curious is what could be causing Urbis to turn into the state it is now. It is highly doubtful that a person, or even a group could do this to the entire nation. It might be possible for Germania. His strength and magic capabilities is unknown. Still, it would take a lot of magic and concentration to sustain a spell of such size."

"Maybe the main Astral Crystal in Urbis is dying." Alfred remarked.

Arthur turned abruptly to face him, fuming. "Bloody idiot! Don't you dare say such a thing so casually! Such a large Astral Crystal dying is unheard of!"

Alfred merely shrugged, ignoring the emerald eyed man's outburst. "It is a possibility, small pieces of Astral Crystal shards do die off."

Nobody noticed that Feli had woken up, and was staggering softly off towards the Faris, until one of the Faris neighed in surprise.

"Ah Feli! You're awake! What are you doing?" Antonio rushed forwards to his friend who had tears in his eyes.

"L-Ludwig… I got to, I got to go save Lud…" Feli sobbed, looking down at the ground as everyone crowded over.

"F-Feli… I, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Because of me Ludwig is –, it's all because of me…" Arthur stuttered, tears welling up in his eyes as he clenched his fists tight, his shoulders tensed up and stiff.

Everyone merely stood there unmoving, not knowing what to do to break the tension and silence that was growing.

"It, it's not your fault." Feli finally whispered, forcing his head up to look at Arthur with a smile, tears continuing to flow down his eyes. "Ludwig said it. Y-you are the Prince and we have to protect you. He made his own choice, so it's not your fault."

He turned, shaking hands grabbing the reins of a Faris, trying to untie it from the tree. "I-I have to go save him, I have to."

His hands slipped as the reins came undone from the tree, causing the Faris to neigh excitedly, turning to run, but was caught by a quick swipe of his hand by Ivan, standing close by ready.

"Ah! Ah, erm I-I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. B-but the Faris, I have to…" Feli trembled, tears continuing to fall from his face as he turned to face Ivan. "P-please I have to. Ludwig is –." Feli stumbled, face almost hitting the ground if not for Kiku who managed to catch him in time.

His whole body was trembling uncontrollably now, as he kneeled on the ground, huge droplets of tears falling down onto the soft snow that was starting to pile up. The rest stood there silently, watching the snow fall as Kiku consoled the sobbing figure in his arms.

"Come now, you're in no condition to go anywhere Feli-san. Ludwig-san wouldn't want to see you in this state as well. Don't worry, he did say that he would be fine. Plus he has a promise to keep with you doesn't he? Everything would be alright. For now you have to rest. We will go help Ludwig-san when we're all recovered." Kiku smiled as Feli slowly looked up at him, hesitating for a moment, before bursting out crying, hugging the stunned Kiku tight.

"Looks like everything's okay for now." Antonio sighed hopefully than in relief, as he helped pry Feli off the now stuttering Kiku who had no idea how to react, and brought him towards the campfire.

"I'll tie the Faris back up and take first watch then." Ivan hummed, receiving a nod from Yao while the rest too returned to the warmth and safely of the fire.

Alfred sat beside Arthur who was busy trying to wipe off all his tears.

"You okay?"

"That was unsightly of me."

"Glad you know at least that much."

"Humph." Arthur looked up towards the direction of the Capital, a pained sorrowful expression on his face. "I hope Ludwig is alright."

Alfred grinned. "Don't worry, I'm sure he will be."

* * *

A/N: So… I remember promising that things would get more interesting, well here is it is, hope it's interesting enough for now :D The next chapter is still in production so don't hold your breath. But I promise it would be out soon …maybe. Well a big thank you for the likes/fav and for putting up with my slowness for those who have been following since the start. I know I'm slow, but I'll try my best to be faster. _Doubtfully_


	15. Chapter 14

A/N: Next chap is out~ Fast wasn't it I'm awesome aren't I -shot- anyways thanks for liking/fav and continuing to read my fic. Hope you look forward to the next chap~

Me: Yes, i didn't bother editing her msg above.

Disclaimer: Don't own Hetalia.

* * *

Chapter 14

"-ke up."

Alfred groaned, feeling something cold and wet sliding down his face. "Wake up." A muffled yelp escaped his throat when more cold and wet substance fell onto his face and into his open mouth. Alfred jumped up onto his feet, only to slip and fall down hard onto the… cold soft ground? He glanced his groggy eyes down to see soft white snow below him before looking up at Ivan's smiling face, raised hand holding a huge pile of snow.

It took a moment for reality to hit Alfred in the face, literary, as Ivan smacked the loosely packed snowball at him.

"Get up, it's dawn." Ivan said, offering a hand to a scowling Alfred who took it, muttering something under his breath Alfred turned his head up, staring at the bleak cloudless sky, yawning heavily.

Alfred looked to see Arthur standing in front of him. The emerald eyed man held out a piece of charred looking matter, waiting for Alfred to take it. "It's bread. I baked it back at home. Eat it." He stuffed it into Alfred's hands, a hint of pride in his voice before turning towards Antonio by the Faris, another of his 'bread' in hand.

Alfred eyed the dark matter in his hands before shrugging, taking a small bite, noting that it didn't taste as bad as it looked. He took a look around chewing slowly before walking over towards Yao and Kiku who were sitting at the corner talking. They both greeted him as he approached them to crowd at the fire.

"Ah Alfred-san, we were discussing over what would be the best course of action to take right now." Kiku looked up, hand holding a twig as he continued to scribble on the snow.

"Isn't that simple? We head back to Sanctus and Oblitus, warn everyone, rally the troops and come marching back." Alfred said, taking another bite as Yao and Kiku stared at him with horror.

"It's not that simple." Yao sighed when Ivan came over, dusting his gloved hands. "We don't have any evidence of what is going on."

Yao elaborated on, giving Kiku an apologetic smile. "I don't know about Oblitus, but even if His Majesty do believe you aru, the rising Monte numbers are already putting the soldiers on the edge. Ordering them to invade another nation would cause nothing but unrest aru, to both the army and the people."

"Likewise, we have to warn Nullus. With their representatives killed, they have no idea what is going on. We have to inform them as well. Worse, they might think that we're invading another nation and side with Urbis instead." Yao gave another deep sigh, shoulders slouching when Arthur, who was holding a teacup, joined the conversation along with Antonio whose face was twisted comically with the bread in his mouth.

Alfred scowled, stuffing the remaining dark matter into his mouth. "That's three places we have to head to."

"That's why we're discussing." Yao rolled his eyes. "Nullus is in the direct opposite direction of Sanctus and Oblitus. Travelling back to Sanctus first then heading over would waste precious time. Moreover I doubt they would be happy to see anyone from Sanctus, given our tense relationship with addition of the ownership of the crystal cave."

"Can we do anything with your magic?" Antonio asked as Arthur shook his head sadly.

"I can't teleport. My magic doesn't allow it. It allows me to condense the essence of the object and preserve it in a pocket dimension formed by my magic. The object is then reconstructed from the essence," Arthur explained, drawing a small magic circle and pulling out a book. "In other words, storage magic."

Alfred's eyes widened in excitement. "Does that mean that you have fireballs stored away somewhere?"

Arthur shook his head, causing Alfred's shoulders to slump down. "That's just a conversion of my magic into basic attack and binding skills. I can't store such volatile things. If anything, nobody's magic would be strong enough for teleportation, especially across long distances to work. It's impossible."

"What about Al? He warps around." Ivan asked the emerald eyed man.

"His magic most probably work like an anchor. It allows him to warp himself as well as objects to his own magic, which in this case takes the form of the cards that he throws. But since magic will eventually dissipate, it is impossible for him to teleport back to Sanctus with some hope that some lingering magic might be still present." Arthur hypothesised.

"If only the Wavhone works outside Sanctus." Alfred complained.

"The wavelengths of the Crystals here are different from those back in Sanctus. It won't work with a different wavelength." Yao shrugged.

The wavelengths of the Crystals is based on the land it recedes in, so even in one single nation, most crystals have different wavelengths, making it a really hard task to attune each and every one to a single wavelength. Furthermore, the wavelength of one nation's crystal would have to be used as the main, none of the nations liked the idea being controlled. Messages being intercepted and stolen aside, no one really knew what might happen to the other crystals if something did happen to one of them.

Alfred leaned back breathing out heavily, watching Arthur in his blue coat, Kiku in his blue robe like uniform and long pants, Yao in his maroon dress shirt coupled with a formal jacket, Antonio in his white dress shirt and sleeveless red collared jacket, and Ivan with his blood red shirt covered by his light tan coat and long scarf. His eyes widened when something clicked in his mind. Alfred sat up immediately, eyes sparkling at his sudden idea while the rest turned to him in question.

"There's two groups of us isn't there?" Alfred waited with a huge smirk on his face as the some nodded, the others already knew what he was going to say. "We could just split up. One to Nullus one back home."

Alfred sat there chest puffed up, the silly smirk still on his face as the rest looked at him in disbelief of how he was so proud of this idea. Arthur sighed and finally spoke. "That's a huge risk to take."

"This way we can be at both the places at once!" Alfred argued.

Arthur opened his mouth to protest when Kiku interrupted. "As regrettable as it is, Alfred-san is right, it is the only way to make sure both places are safe."

Yao sighed this time. "If we're careful there shouldn't be any problems aru. We would definitely be able to reach the places faster."

Arthur quietened down as Ivan did not protest and Antonio shrugged to show their agreement, causing a huge victorious grin to appear on Alfred's face.

"Fine. Since Nullus wouldn't be welcoming of Alfred, I shall head over to Nullus." Arthur offered. "Kiku, I'm sorry to ask you of this, but can you head back home with Feli?" He look over his shoulder at the still sleeping figure. "I'm worried about him and it would be good for you to have a look at the situation back home."

Kiku nodded in agreement as Ivan spoke up with a smile, "I'll head to Nullus as well. It would be more interesting than going back."

"I'm going to Nullus too aru."

"I guess I'll head home then." Antonio shrugged seemly indifferent, building a mini snowman.

"So everything is settled." Arthur stood up, patting away the snow.

"N-no."

Everyone turned abruptly, shocked at the stuttering voice. Feli stood in front of them, head low and shaky hands clenching the ends of his uniform. "I don't want to go home. I-I'm going to Nullus." He looked up, eyes full of determination and tears which he was desperately holding back.

"But Feli, heading to Nullus would be very dangerous." Arthur tried to persuade the brunette as Feli shook his head frantically.

"I-I, I can't go home. Not with Ludwig still missing. I-I can't walk pass the places we visited without him. We promised to go there together once we're back. I can't. Arthur, I can't go home without him." Feli's small frame started to shake slightly as he clenched his uniform even tighter.

"Feli…"

"And, and if Luddie was hurt on his way out… I can't Arthur. I don't want to regret knowing I might meet him again! Pl-plus Ludwig told me to take care of you. I don't want to disappoint him."

Arthur took a small step forward, opening his mouth when Kiku placed a hand on his shoulder. He watched the usually expressionless man give a small smile, shaking his head. Arthur sighed, crossing his arms. "Alright."

Feli immediately brightened up, his amber eyes glistening as a few stray tears found their way down his cheeks.

"If that's the case, I'll accompany Kiku to Oblitus." Yao said, earning a nod of gratitude from Arthur.

"Alright then, everybody done?" Ivan asked as he ignored Antonio's protest and dropped an armful of snow onto the fire, with Antonio's little snowman being part of the pile.

None moved until Arthur stood up, deciding that it was time.

"Be safe." He said softly.

Alfred nodded and flashed a huge bright grin back, heaving himself up onto his Faris. "I'll see you back home."

Both groups turned, trotting softly across the snow as they headed in opposite directions. Alfred and Antonio to Sanctus along with Kiku and Yao to Oblitus. While Arthur, Feli and Ivan headed the other way to warn the Nullus against Urbis. Both groups had no idea what dangers could be lurking with every step, but there was no way they would just roll over and play dead while such a threat was out there. They were Princes and their charges, and they would protect their nations no matter what.

He stole a glance back at the group trotting farther and farther away, feeling a pang of jealously. Arthur's thick brows furrowed as he shook his head, stamping out his impulse to just turn around and join them on their way back home. He turned, tugging on the reins of his Faris stiftly, in the direction of Nullus.


	16. Chapter 15

Me: A/N?

(blahblahblah)

Authoress: a/n shall be they run then they meet ppl then they run then they jump then they walk. Done lol

Me: okay then

Authoress: LOL really? best lol

Me: that's wut u said.

Authoress: erer thx for likes/favs

Me: Oh yeah, Language. You've been warned.

Disclaimer: Don't own Hetalia.

* * *

Chapter 15

"As much as I haven't had a fight like this in a long time, those idiots need more training!" The white-haired smirked, swinging his long sword as the blood of the final fallen soldier splattered onto the pale white snow.

Ludwig sighed in relief, lowering his pistol. He glanced at the tall iron gate, before turning back to face the silvery white haired man wearing a white military uniform that was now stained red from the blood of the soldier he killed. "He truly is worthy of his title. But of course he's still human." Ludwig noted briefly, looking at the cuts on the man's pale face and body, and the blood on the long sleeve on his left arm spreading rapidly before opening his mouth to talk."I appreciate your help, Gilbert."

Crimson eyes turned to look at Ludwig in surprise which quickly turned into pride. "Ha, of course! Who wouldn't know of the awesome me!"

"Why did you help me?" Ludwig asked, ignoring the laughing as he tried to stop the blood flowing out of his side, soaking his uniform.

Gilbert shrugged. "It was the right thing to do," He opened his mouth to continue, but paused for a moment listening, as sounds of running and shouting could be heard. "Tsk, those fuckers are fast. Well they ought to be, I trained them after all." He scoffed.

"Come on, we haven't got all day." Gilbert called, running back towards the castle.

Ludwig hesitated for a moment before shaking his head and followed behind, pistol in hand. The questions could come later. Trap or not, he didn't have a chance of survival if he stayed out here. Right now he had to focus on getting out and meeting the rest. They could hear the gasps and shouts of the soldiers who had just reached the courtyard, horrified from what they were seeing.

Both zipped through the castle halls and out onto the back, running left and right through the most inconspicuous of places that one would never notice even with living in the castle for a long time, until Ludwig lost track of the way back to the front gates. He was panting harder than usual, each breath felt as if someone was stabbing him with a blade as he continued to follow Gilbert who seemed to be enjoying himself with this death game of tag with the soldiers who were still chasing them.

Gilbert suddenly stopped before turning to the left in a small stone corridor. Ludwig came to a sudden halt as well, almost falling over. He took a peek at what lay after the turn, and groaned softly as he stared at a group of at least five soldiers standing around laughing and talking amongst themselves. Gilbert clicked his tongue, his brows furrowed deep in thought, but stood up straight after a moment, a grin on his face.

Ludwig closed his mouth, trying to control his raspy breathing, eyebrow raising in question when Gilbert raised his hand towards him, signalling him to keep back stay quiet and follow his lead.

"What do you think you're doing?" he called out as he stepped up and out into the open.

The soldiers jumped at the sound of his voice, frantically trying to pick up their weapons properly and stand in attention at the same time as Gilbert strolled in front of them.

"N-nothing sir." One of them answered, as another raised an eyebrow at the sight of the cut and bruised man before him.

Gilbert narrowed his eyes before asking, his voice low and commanding. "Do you know who I am?"

The soldier beside raised eyebrow whimpered, "G-Gilbert Beilschmidt sir, 2nd in command to his Majesty Emperor."

"Heh, at least one of you idiots know just who you're dealing with," Gilbert smirked as the eyes of the other soldiers widened in fear. "The awesome me is feeling generous so leave now. There's a person his Majesty Emperor wants dead running amok in the castle. All soldiers are to look for him."

Ludwig stood frozen for a moment, trying to comprehend what Gilbert was doing. There was no other path the soldiers could take but to pass him in order to head back to the castle. No matter what he did, the soldiers would see him for sure, and if any of them recognised him or his uniform, Ludwig knew that things wouldn't end well even with Gilbert's help. He took a step back, considering the possibility of escaping detection for a moment before breaking out into a small smile, understanding what was going on when he caught side of Gilbert smirking and the slight tilt of his head, signalling him to step forward. Standing up straight, Ludwig walked out of the corner. Ignoring the confused stares of the soldiers, Ludwig stride towards Gilbert who was trying his best to hide a grin.

"Sir, there has been some new progress." Ludwig said, trying to supress the pain from his injuries with each step he took.

"Just the man I wanted to see." Gilbert grinned before snapping at the soldiers once again. "What are you fuckers still standing around for? Leave!" The soldiers yelped, rushing down the corridor, none of them giving Ludwig a single glance in the dark corridors.

"Won't those soldiers realize what happened?" Ludwig asked, following Gilbert down the corridor as the frantic footsteps of the soldiers faded into the distance.

Gilbert laughed. "By the time those fools realize their mistake we ought to be long gone."

They took a few more quick turns before Gilbert finally slowed down, coming to a halt at a dead end. Gilbert pushed open a door on the right with his scabbard, peeking in cautiously. Pleased with what he did or did not see, he motioned to Ludwig and both entered the small dark room.

Gilbert headed towards the table, squatting down in front of the old worn carpet, a wide grin on his face as he picked up a candle and a box of matches. "Looks like he left us a gift before leaving."

Ludwig watched in silence as Gilbert used the tip of his scabbard to move the carpet, tapping the floor twice to reveal a vague fissure on the floor. Gilbert heaved the stone trap door open as the sound of footsteps could be heard approaching.

"Not bad, faster than I expected." Gilbert muttered before looking up at Ludwig. "After you." He grinned stepping aside to reveal the rusty ladder down into the darkness.

Ludwig sighed before leaning down wincing as he descended the ladder. He reached the damp smelling pitch black tunnel at the end of the ladder and waited, listening as the sound of boots hitting stone got louder and louder.

It felt like ages when the dim light from above disappeared and Gilbert climbed down, his black boots clinking on the rusty metal steps of the ladder.

"Thought you were never coming down." Ludwig jested as Gilbert finally reached the cold damp stone floor, lighting the candles as the soft orange light reflected off his silvery white hair.

"Had to settle something." Gilbert replied, crimson eyes twinkling in mischief. "Come on, this way, we're almost out."

Ludwig once again followed behind Gilbert as shouts of confusion followed by panic accompanied with the sound of something rolling could be heard from above them. They walked slowly as Gilbert explained the tunnel they were in.

The tunnels has been around since the castle was built, and was first used to bring in supplies when the roads in Capital was yet to be built. It was then used to transport water into the room they came from, from a man-made lake which before long had dried up. After that, it was used to dispose of bodies of those who tried to assassinate the Emperor or sought to disturb the peace. And now it had fallen into disuse, with only a handful knowing of its existence.

They trod along the moss and algae covered rocky walls, the flickering light from their candles casting eerie shadows that danced around, skittering into the recesses of the wall as they passed. The voices and footsteps of the soldiers faded off, only the sound of their own worn out erratic footsteps and the occasional water droplet echoing softly as silence descended upon them.

Finally Ludwig spoke.

"You said it was the right thing to do, but with that you've just betrayed your nation. Why?"

Gilbert remained silent for a moment before replying. "It's not betrayal if I'm doing it for my nation." He continued on, picking up speed. "Come on you want to meet Feli don't you? The longer we take the more dangerous it's going to be for them. We have to find them soon, and warn them about Nullus."


End file.
